The Soul of Abraham Lincoln

by William E. Barton

CHAPTER XXIII

THE CREED OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Abraham Lincoln made no effort, so far as we know, to formulate a creed. It would have been an exceedingly difficult thing for him to have accomplished. His utterances on religious subjects were not made as dogmatic affirmations. He merely uttered as occasion seemed to him to demand such sentiments and principles as expressed those aspects of truth which he felt and believed to need expression at those particular times. Nevertheless, these utterances together cover a somewhat wide range; and while they were not intended to epitomize any system of Christian doctrine, they make a nearer approach to an epitome of this character than on the whole might reasonably have been expected.

It will be interesting and profitable to close this study with a series of short quotations from documents, letters, and addresses, certified as authentic and touching directly upon points of Christian doctrine. In most instances these have been quoted already, with their context, but they are here brought together in briefer form in order to facilitate our inquiry whether they afford any material out of which might be made some approach to a statement of Christian faith.

Materials for a Lincoln creed:

I sincerely hope father may recover his health, but, at all events, tell him to remember to call upon and confide in our great and good and merciful Maker, who will not turn away from him in any extremity. He notes the fall of a sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our heads, and He will not forget the dying man who puts his trust in Him.... If it be his lot to go now he will soon have a joyous meeting with many loved ones gone before, and where the rest of us with the help of God hope ere long to join them.—Letter to his dying father, January 12, 1851. Complete Works, I, 165.

Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him [Washington] I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail. Trusting in His care who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.—Farewell Address, Springfield, February 11, 1861. Complete Works, I, 672.

If the Almighty Ruler of Nations, with His eternal truth and justice, be on our side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal of the American people.... Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty.... My dissatisfied fellow countrymen ... you have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, while I have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it.—First Inaugural, March 4, 1861. Complete Works, II, 7.

May God give you that consolation which is beyond all earthly power.—Letter to parents of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, May 25, 1861. Complete Works, II, 52.

And having thus chosen our course, without guile and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God and go forward without fear and with manly hearts.—First Message to Congress, July 4, 1861. Complete Works, II, 66.

Whereas it is fit and becoming in all people, at all times, to acknowledge and revere the supreme government of God; to bow in humble submission to His chastisements; to confess and deplore their sins and transgressions, in the full conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and to pray with all fervency and contrition for the pardon of their past offenses, and for a blessing upon their present and prospective action:

And whereas when our own beloved country, once, by the blessing of God, united, prosperous, and happy, is now afflicted with factions and civil war, it is particularly fit for us to recognize the hand of God in this terrible visitation, and in sorrowful remembrance of our own faults and crimes as a nation and as individuals, to humble ourselves before Him and to pray for His mercy.—National Fast Day Proclamation, August 12, 1861. Complete Works, II, 73.

In the midst of unprecedented political troubles we have cause of great gratitude to God for unusual health and most abundant harvest.... The struggle of today is not altogether for today—it is for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed to the great task which events have devolved upon us.—Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1861. Complete Works, II, 93 and 106.

Whereas it has seemed to me probable that the unsuccessful application made for the commutation of his sentence may have prevented the said Nathaniel Gordon from making the necessary preparation for the awful change which awaits him: Now therefore be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, have granted and do hereby grant unto him, the said Nathaniel Gordon, a respite of the above recited sentence, until Friday, the 21st of February, A.D. 1862.... In granting this respite it becomes my painful duty to admonish the prisoner that, relinquishing all expectation of pardon by human authority, he refer himself alone to the mercy of the common God and Father of all men.—Proclamation of Respite for a Convicted Slave Trader, February 4, 1862. Complete Works, II, 121-22.

Being a humble instrument in the hands of our Heavenly Father, as I am, and as we all are, to work out His great purposes, I have desired that all my works and acts may be according to His will; and that it might be so, I have sought His aid.—Reply to Mrs. Gurney and Deputation from Society of Friends, September [28?], 1862. Complete Works, II, 243.

In full view of my great responsibility to my God and to my country, I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the subject.—Message to Congress recommending Emancipation with Compensation to Owners, March 6, 1862. Complete Works, II, 130.

It has pleased Almighty God to vouchsafe signal victories to the land and naval forces.... It is therefore recommended to the people of the United States that at their next weekly assemblages ... they especially acknowledge and render thanks to our Heavenly Father for these inestimable blessings; that they then and there implore spiritual consolation in behalf of all who have been brought into affliction by the casualties and calamities of sedition and civil war; and that they reverently invoke the Divine guidance to our national counsels, to the end that they may speedily result in restoration of peace, harmony, and unity.—Special Thanksgiving Proclamation, April 10, 1862. Complete Works, II, 143.

The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party; and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that this is probably true; that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By His mere great power on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And, having begun, He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds.—A Meditation on the Divine Will in the handwriting of Mr. Lincoln, formulated about September 30, 1862, and not written for the eye of men but apparently in the effort to define the moral aspects of the subject and to clarify his own spiritual outlook.—Complete Works, II, 243-44.

Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proved by all history, that those nations only are blest whose God is the Lord; And inasmuch as we know that by His Divine law nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?—Fast Day Proclamation, March 30, 1863. Complete Works, II, 319.

It is meet and right to recognize and confess the presence of the Almighty Father and the power of His hand equally in these triumphs and in these sorrows.... I invite the people of the United States ... to render the homage due to the Divine Majesty for the wonderful things He has done in the nation's behalf, and invoke the influence of his Holy Spirit to subdue the anger which has produced and so long sustained a needless and cruel rebellion.—Thanksgiving Proclamation, July 15, 1863. Complete Works, II, 370.

In regard to the Great Book, I have only to say, it is the best gift which God has ever given man. All the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated to us through this book.—Response to Presentation of Bible. Complete Works, Nicolay and Hay's new and enlarged edition, twelve volumes, N. Y., 1905, X, 217-18.

Signal successes ... call for devout acknowledgment to the Supreme Being in whose hand are the destinies of nations.—Thanksgiving Proclamation, September 3, 1864. Complete Works, II, 571.

God knows best ... surely He intends some great good to follow this mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make and no mortal can stave.... That you believe this I doubt not; and believing it, I shall still receive for our country and myself your earnest prayers to our Father in Heaven.—Letter to Mrs. Gurney, September 4, 1864. Complete Works, II, 573-74.

I do further recommend to my fellow citizens aforesaid, that they do reverently humble themselves in the dust, and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the Great Disposer of events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony.—Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 20, 1864. Complete Works, II, 587.

I am thankful to God for this approval of the people; ... I give thanks to the Almighty for this evidence of the people's resolution to stand by free government and the rights of humanity.—Response to Serenade following Re-election, November 9, 1864. Complete Works, II, 595.

I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel, and yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling.... I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. Now at the end of three years' struggle, the nation's condition is not what either party, or any man, devised or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the North as well as you of the South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impartial history will find therein new cause to attest and revere the justice and goodness of God.—Letter to A. G. Hodges, April 4, 1864. Complete Works, II, 508-09.

Enough is known of army operations within the last five days to claim an especial gratitude to God, while what remains undone demands our most sincere prayers to, and reliance upon, Him without whom all human effort is vain.—Recommendation of Thanksgiving, May 9, 1864. Complete Works, II, 519.

I invite and request ... all loyal and law-abiding people ... to render to the Almighty and merciful Ruler of the universe homages and confessions.—Proclamation of Day of Prayer, July 7, 1864. Complete Works, II, 544.

Again the blessings of health and abundant harvest claim our profoundest gratitude to Almighty God.—Annual Address to Congress, December 6, 1864. Complete Works, II, 604.

You all may recollect that in taking up the sword thus forced into our hands, this government appealed to the prayers of the pious and good, and declared that it placed its whole dependence upon the favor of God. I now humbly and reverently, in your presence, reiterate the acknowledgment of that dependence, not doubting that, if it shall please the Divine Being who determines the destinies of nations, this shall remain a united people, and that they will, humbly seeking the Divine guidance, make their prolonged national existence a source of new benefits to themselves and their successors, and to all classes and conditions of mankind.—Address to Committee from Evangelical Lutheran General Synod, May 6, 1862. Complete Works, II, 148.

Relying, as I do, upon Almighty Power, and encouraged, as I am, by the resolutions which you have just read, with the support which I receive from Christian men, I shall not hesitate to use all the means at my control to secure the termination of this rebellion, and will hope for success.—Address to Committee of Sixty-five from Presbyterian General Assembly, May 30, 1863. Complete Works, II, 342.

I expect [my Second Inaugural] to wear as well as—perhaps better than—anything I have produced; but I believe it is not immediately popular. Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them. To deny it, however, in this case, is to deny that there is a God governing the world. It is a truth which I thought needed to be told, and, as whatever of humiliation there is in it falls most directly on myself, I thought others might afford for me to tell it.—Letter to Thurlow Weed, March 15, 1865. Complete Works, II, 661.

It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged.... The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the Providence of God, must needs come, but which having continued through His appointed time, He now will remove and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those Divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him. Fondly do we hope—perfectly do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still must it be said, "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in.—Second Inaugural, March 4, 1865. Complete Works, II, 657.

No one of the foregoing quotations is taken from a private conversation, nor copied from an unauthorized source. Some very pleasing selections might have been made from reasonably well-accredited sources, but all of the foregoing selections, without any exception, are taken from the authentic writings and addresses of Lincoln as compiled, edited, and authenticated by his private secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay.

We might go much farther and could find a considerable body of additional material, but this is sufficient and more than sufficient for our purpose. In these utterances may be found something of the determinism that was hammered into Lincoln by the early Baptist preachers and riveted by James Smith, along with some of the humanitarianism of Parker and Channing, and much which lay unstratified in Lincoln's own mind but flowed spontaneously from his pen or dropped from his lips because it was native to his thinking and had come to be a component part of his life. Anyone who cares to do so may piece these utterances together and test his success in making a creed out of them. They lend themselves somewhat readily to such an arrangement.

In the following arrangement no liberties have been taken except to change the past tense to the present, or the plural to the singular, and to add connectives, and preface the words "I believe." Except for changes such as these, which in no way modify the sense or natural force of the utterances, the creed which follows is wholly in the words of Abraham Lincoln. A very little tampering with the text would have made smoother reading, but this is not necessary. It has the simplicity and the rugged honesty of the man who said these words.

THE CREED OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IN HIS OWN WORDS

I believe in God, the Almighty Ruler of Nations, our great and good and merciful Maker, our Father in Heaven, who notes the fall of a sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our heads.

I believe in His eternal truth and justice.

I recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history that those nations only are blest whose God is the Lord.

I believe that it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, and to invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon.

I believe that it is meet and right to recognize and confess the presence of the Almighty Father equally in our triumphs and in those sorrows which we may justly fear are a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins to the needful end of our reformation.

I believe that the Bible is the best gift which God has ever given to men. All the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated to us through this book.

I believe the will of God prevails. Without Him all human reliance is vain. Without the assistance of that Divine Being, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail.

Being a humble instrument in the hands of our Heavenly Father, I desire that all my works and acts may be according to His will; and that it may be so, I give thanks to the Almighty, and seek His aid.

I have a solemn oath registered in heaven to finish the work I am in, in full view of my responsibility to my God, with malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right as God gives me to see the right. Commending those who love me to His care, as I hope in their prayers they will commend me, I look through the help of God to a joyous meeting with many loved ones gone before.

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APPENDICES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX I

EXTRACT FROM NEWTON BATEMAN'S LECTURE ON
LINCOLN WITH VARIANTS OF THE FAREWELL
ADDRESS, AT SPRINGFIELD,
FEBRUARY 11, 1861.

Both for its own value as an incident in the life of Mr. Lincoln and because it affords us opportunity of understanding the accuracy of Newton Bateman's verbal memory, the following is quoted from his lecture on Abraham Lincoln, a lecture delivered many times in the later years of his life and printed by his family in 1899 after his death:

"On the eleventh of February, 1861, on the day preceding his fifty-second birthday, Mr. Lincoln set out for Washington. He had sent special invitations to a few of his old friends to accompany him as far as Indianapolis. That I was included in the number, I shall be pardoned for remembering with peculiar pleasure. That note of invitation is preserved among my most cherished memorabilia of Abraham Lincoln. I shall ever regret that imperative official duties would not allow me to join the party.

"But I accompanied him to the railroad station, and stood by his side on the platform of the car, when he delivered that memorable farewell to his friends and neighbors. Of those, an immense concourse had assembled to bid him good-by. The day was dark and chill, and a drizzling rain had set in. The signal bell had rung, and all was in readiness for the departure, when Mr. Lincoln appeared on the front platform of the special car—removed his hat, looked out for a moment upon the sea of silent, upturned faces, and heads bared in loving reverence and sympathy, regardless of the rain; and, in a voice broken and tremulous with emotion and a most unutterable sadness, yet slow and measured and distinct and with a certain prophetic far-off look which no one who saw can ever forget, began:

"'My friends, no one, not in my position can appreciate the sadness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a century. Here my children were born, and here one of them lies buried. I know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty devolves upon me which is greater, perhaps, than that which has devolved upon any other man since the days of Washington. He never would have succeeded, except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same divine aid which sustained him; and upon the same Almighty Being I place my reliance and support. And I hope you, my friends, will pray that I may receive that divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, and with which success is certain. Again, I bid you all an affectionate farewell.'

"His pale face was literally wet with tears as he re-entered the car, and the train rolled out of the city, which Abraham Lincoln was to enter no more—till, his great work finished he would come back from the war, a victor and a conqueror though with the seal of death upon his visage. Some politicians derided the solemn words of that farewell—but I knew they were the utterances of his inmost soul—never did speech of man move me as that did. Seeing every mournful tremor of those lips—noting every shadow that flitted over that face—catching every inflection of that voice—the words seemed to drop, every one, into my heart, and to be crystallized in my memory. I hurried back to my office, locked the door (for I felt that I must be alone), wrote out the address from memory and had it published in the city papers in advance of the reporters. And when the reports of the stenographers were published, they differed from mine in only two or three words, and as to even those, I have always believed that mine were right for the speech was engraved on my heart and my memory, and I had but to copy the engraving."—Abraham Lincoln, an address by Hon. Newton Bateman, LL.D., published by the Cadmus Club, 1899, Galesburg.

Mr. Lincoln's Farewell Address, as given by Mr. Bateman in the foregoing quotation, would appear to have undergone some revision by him after its printing. He says that he furnished it to the press and that it came out in advance of the version taken down by the reporter. On this point his memory appears to be correct. The Illinois State Journal of February 12, 1861, contains a report of Mr. Lincoln's address, which is almost certainly that furnished by Mr. Bateman.

Lincoln's Farewell Address as Printed in the Illinois State
Journal, February 12, 1860, probably from the notes of Hon.
Newton Bateman.

"Friends, no one who has never been placed in a like position, can understand my feelings at this hour, nor the oppressive sadness I feel at this parting. For more than a quarter of a century I have lived among you, and during all that time I have received nothing but kindness at your hands. Here I have lived from my youth until now I am an old man. Here the most sacred ties of earth were assumed; here all of my children were born, and here one of them lies buried. To you, dear friends, I owe all that I have, all that I am. All the strange, checkered past seems now to crowd upon my mind. Today I leave you: I go to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved upon General Washington. Unless the great God who assisted him shall be with me and aid me, I must fail. But if the same Omniscient Mind and the same Almighty Arm that directed and protected him shall guide and support me, I shall not fail; I shall succeed. Let us all pray that the God of our fathers may not forsake us now. To Him I commend you all; permit me to ask that with equal sincerity [the word is printed security but corrected with pen] and faith, you all will invoke His wisdom and guidance for me. With these few words I must leave you—for how long I know not. Friends, one and all, I must now bid you an affectionate farewell."

The So-called Shorthand Report

The so-called shorthand report appears on close examination not to be a shorthand report, but is that which appeared in the Chicago and other papers from the Hay and Lincoln revision, more or less garbled in telegraphic transmission.

The Lincoln-Hay Version of the Farewell Address

"This address was correctly printed for the first time in the Century Magazine for December, 1887, from the original manuscript, having been written down after the train started, partly by Mr. Lincoln's own hand and partly by that of his private secretary from his dictation."—Nicolay and Hay, Life of Lincoln, II, 291.

It is thus apparent that we do not have any verbatim report of the precise words which Lincoln uttered; but the Illinois Historical Society has accepted this as the accredited version. It is certainly that which Lincoln wished to be remembered as having said; but it is quite possible that in one or two of the variant words Bateman may have recalled it more accurately than Lincoln himself:

"My friends: No one not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century and have passed from a youth to an old man. Here my children have been born and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me and remain with you and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell."

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APPENDIX II

"HIGH-HANDED OUTRAGE AT UTICA"[72]

By Artemus Ward

Bishop Fowler and other lecturers and authors have drawn for us beautiful pictures of Lincoln reading to his Cabinet a chapter in the Bible before submitting his draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. The true story of that incident is related in the foregoing pages. It may be that some readers who are unfamiliar with the now little-read writings of "Artemus Ward" will be glad to know precisely what it was that the President read on that day; and as the chapter is very short, it will be given herewith.

No form of literature is more evanescent than humor. The fun-loving public of one generation labors hard to discover the reasons why other generations laughed over the old-time jokes. But there are elements in Artemus Ward that still provoke a smile. The chapter which amused Lincoln on that day related to the virtue of a community which would not permit the exhibition of Artemus Ward's famous Wax Works because the reproduction of the Last Supper contained the figure of Judas. Some reader may need to be told that there was no such show. The author of this and the other burlesques that bore the name of Artemus Ward (Charles F. Browne), presented himself in these sketches as a good-natured humbug, running a "highly moral show" with "Wax-figgers" and other attractions. He was never so delightful as when disclosing his own shams, as when the mob pulled the hay out of the fat man.

Browne's book had a chapter in which he assisted Lincoln to form his Cabinet. His first assistance was to turn out all the office-seekers by threatening to turn his "Boy Constrictor" in among them; and then advised Mr. Lincoln to fill his Cabinet with Showmen, all of whom were honest and had nary a politic; "for particulars see small bills." This and other chapters delighted Lincoln; but the one he read to his Cabinet just before presenting the second draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, was the following:

High-handed Outrage at Utica

In the Faul of 1856, I showed my show in Utiky, a trooly grate sitty in the State of New York.

The people gave me a cordyal recepshun. The press was loud in her prases.

1 day as I was giving a description of my Beests and Snaiks in my usual flowry stile what was my skorn & disgust to see a big burly fellew walk up to the cage containin my wax figgers of the Lord's Supper, and cease Judas Iscarrot by the feet and drag him onto the ground. He then commenced fur to pound him as hard as he cood.

"What under the son are you abowt?" cried I.

Sez he, "What did you brung this pussylanermus cuss here fur?" & he hit the wax figger another tremjis blow on the hed.

Sez I, "You egrejes ass, that air's a wax figger—a representashun of the false 'Postle."

Sez he, "That's all very well fur you to say but I tell you, old man, that Judas Iscarrot can't show hisself in Utiky by a darn site!" with whuch observashun he caved in Judassis hed. The young man belonged to 1 of the first famerlies in Utiky. I sood him, and the Joory brawt in a verdick of Arson in the 3rd degree.

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APPENDIX III

THE CONVERSION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

By the Rev. Edward L. Watson

The religion of Abraham Lincoln is so much in debate that I feel called upon to give the following narrative of an event of which little seems to be known—and which is of real importance in understanding the man. He has been called an infidel—an unbeliever of varying degrees of blatancy. That he was a Christian in the real sense of the term is plain from his life. That he was converted during a Methodist revival seems not to be a matter of common report. The personal element of this narrative is necessary to unfold the story. In 1894 I was appointed to the pastorate of the Hennepin Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, Minneapolis, Minn., by Bishop Cyrus D. Foss, being transferred from Frederick, Md., a charge in Baltimore Conference. It was in October that we entered the parsonage, which was a double house, the other half being rented by the trustees. Shortly after our occupancy of the church house William B. Jacquess moved into the rented half of the property, and through this fact I became acquainted with Col. James F. Jacquess, his brother. At this time Colonel Jacquess was an old man of eighty years or more, of commanding presence and wearing a long beard which was as white as snow. His title grew out of the fact of his being the commanding officer of the Seventy-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, known as the Preacher Regiment. Its name was given through the publication in the Cincinnati Commercial in September, 1862, of the roster of its officers:

Colonel—Rev. James F. Jacquess, D.D., late president of Quincy College.

Lieutenant-Colonel—Rev. Benjamin F. Northcott.

Major—Rev. William A. Presson.

Captains—Company B, Rev. W. B. M. Colt; Company C, Rev. P. McNutt; Company F, Rev. George W. Montgomery; Company H, Rev. James I. Davidson; Company I, Rev. Peter Wallace; Company K, Rev. R. H. Laughlin.

Six or seven of the twenty lieutenants were also licensed Methodist preachers. Henry A. Castle, sergeant-major, was the author of the article and a son-in-law, if I mistake not, of Colonel Jacquess.

The history of this regiment is in brief, as follows: It was organized at the instance of Governor Dick Yates, under Colonel Jacquess, in August, 1862, at Camp Butler, in Illinois, and became part of General Buell's army. It fought nobly at Perryville, and in every battle in which the Army of the Cumberland was engaged, from October, 1862, to the rout of Hood's army at Nashville. Its dead were found at Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, where Colonel Jacquess won especial distinction, and in the succession of battles from Chattanooga to the fall of Atlanta. It was frequently complimented by the commanding generals and was unsurpassed in bravery and endurance. It left the State one of the largest, and returned one of the smallest, having lost two-thirds of its men in its three years' service.

Colonel Jacquess was its only colonel and came home disabled by wounds received at Chickamauga, where two horses were shot under him. He refused to the last (1897) to receive a pension, until in his extreme old age, at the urgent request of the Society of the Survivors of the Seventy-third Illinois, he allowed it to be applied for. He pathetically said: "My grandfathers were Revolutionary soldiers and you could get up a row if you mentioned pensions. My father and my uncles were in the War of 1812, and would take none. I had hoped not to receive one—but I am unable now to do anything, and it has been my desire, and not the fault of the government, that I have never received a pension." These words were spoken in 1897—and not long afterward Colonel Jacquess went to his reward.

Toward the end of the war President Lincoln sent Colonel Jacquess as a secret emissary to arrange for peace and the settlement of the slave question, so as to avert further shedding of blood. His adventures in this role are of thrilling interest. The foregoing is told to show the quality of the man whom it was my privilege to meet in 1896, when he was in extreme old age. The honors conferred upon him by President Lincoln and the confidence reposed in him grew out of events which preceded the war. This was no other than the conversion of Mr. Lincoln under the ministry of the Rev. James F. Jacquess, at Springfield, Ill., in the year 1839. The Rev. James F. Jacquess was stationed at this new town—then of but a few thousand inhabitants—in 1839, when Lincoln met him during a series of revival services conducted in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Lincoln had but recently come to the town—having removed from New Salem, which was in a decadent state. As a member of the Legislature, Lincoln had been a chief agent in establishing the State capital at Springfield, and though in debt and exceedingly poor, he hoped to find friends and practice in the growing town. He was then thirty years of age and had had few advantages of any sort. It was on a certain night, when the pastor preached from the text, "Ye must be born again," that Lincoln was in attendance and was greatly interested. After the service he came round to the little parsonage, and like another Nicodemus, asked, "How can these things be?" Mr. Jacquess explained as best he could the mystery of the new birth and at Lincoln's request, he and his wife kneeled and prayed with the future President. It was not long before Mr. Lincoln expressed his sense of pardon and arose with peace in his heart.

The narrative, as told thus far, is as my memory recalled it. Since writing it, the same as told by Colonel Jacquess has recently been discovered by me in Minutes of the Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Reunion Survivors Seventy-third Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Volunteers (page 30), a copy of which is before me. This meeting, the last (probably), that Colonel Jacquess attended, was held Tuesday and Wednesday, September 28, 29, 1897, in the Supreme Court room of the State Capitol Building, Springfield, Ill. To quote Colonel Jacquess: "The mention of Mr. Lincoln's name recalls to my mind an occurrence that perhaps I ought to mention. I notice that a number of lectures are being delivered recently on Abraham Lincoln. Bishop Fowler has a most splendid lecture on Abraham Lincoln, but they all, when they reach one point run against a stone wall, and that is in reference to Mr. Lincoln's religious sentiments. I happen to know something on that subject that very few persons know. My wife, who has been dead nearly two years, was the only witness of what I am going to state to you as having occurred. Very soon after my second year's work as a minister in the Illinois Conference, I was sent to Springfield. There were ministers in the Illinois Conference who had been laboring for twenty-five years to get to Springfield, the capital of the State. When the legislature met there were a great many people here, and it was thought to be a matter of great glory among the ministers to be sent to Springfield. But I was not pleased with my assignment. I felt my inability to perform the work. I did not know what to do. I simply talked to the Lord about it, however, and told Him that unless I had help I was going to run away. I heard a voice saying to me, 'Fear not,' and I understood it perfectly. Now I am coming to the point I want to make to you. I was standing at the parsonage door one Sunday morning, a beautiful morning in May, when a little boy came up to me and said: 'Mr. Lincoln sent me around to see if you was going to preach today.' Now, I had met Mr. Lincoln, but I never thought any more of Abe Lincoln than I did of any one else. I said to the boy: 'You go back and tell Mr. Lincoln that if he will come to church he will see whether I am going to preach or not.' The little fellow stood working his fingers and finally said: 'Mr. Lincoln told me he would give me a quarter if I would find out whether you are going to preach.' I did not want to rob the little fellow of his income, so I told him to tell Mr. Lincoln that I was going to try to preach. I was always ready and willing to accept any assistance that came along, and whenever a preacher, or one who had any pretense in that direction, would come along I would thrust him into my pulpit and make him preach, because I felt that anybody could do better than I could.

"The church was filled that morning. It was a good-sized church, but on that day all the seats were filled. I had chosen for my text the words: 'Ye must be born again,' and during the course of my sermon I laid particular stress on the word 'must.' Mr. Lincoln came into the church after the services had commenced, and there being no vacant seats, chairs were put in the altar in front of the pulpit, and Mr. Lincoln and Governor French and wife sat in the altar during the entire services, Mr. Lincoln on my left and Governor French on my right, and I noticed that Mr. Lincoln appeared to be deeply interested in the sermon. A few days after that Sunday Mr. Lincoln called on me and informed me that he had been greatly impressed with my remarks on Sunday and that he had come to talk with me further on the matter. I invited him in, and my wife and I talked and prayed with him for hours. Now, I have seen many persons converted; I have seen hundreds brought to Christ, and if ever a person was converted, Abraham Lincoln was converted that night in my house. His wife was a Presbyterian, but from remarks he made to me he could not accept Calvinism. He never joined my church, but I will always believe that since that night Abraham Lincoln lived and died a Christian gentleman."

Here ends the narrative of Colonel Jacquess. Now compare that which my memory preserved for the past thirteen years and the Colonel's own printed account, and the discrepancies are small. It is with pleasure I am able to confirm my memory by the words of the original narrator. It is with no small degree of pleasure that I am able to prove that Methodism had a hand in the making of the greatest American. Colonel James F. Jacquess has gone to his reward, but it is his honor to have been used by his Master to help in the spiritualization of the great man who piloted our national destinies in a time of exceeding peril. It is an honor to him, and through him to the denomination of which he was a distinguished member.

Baltimore, Md.
Methodist Christian Advocate
November 11, 1909.

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APPENDIX IV

THE REED LECTURE

THE LATER LIFE AND RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN[73]

While the fate and future of the Christian religion in nowise depends upon the sentiments of Abraham Lincoln, yet the life and character of this remarkable man belong to the public, to tell for evil or for good on coming generations; and as the attempt has been made to impute to him the vilest sentiments, even to his dying day, it is fitting and just that the weakness and infidelity charged upon his later life should not go down unchallenged to posterity. The latest biography of Mr. Lincoln, published under the name of Col. W. H. Lamon, but with the large co-operation of Mr. W. H. Herndon, concerns itself with the endeavor to establish certain allegations injurious to the good name of the illustrious man, whose tragic and untimely death has consecrated his memory in the hearts of a grateful nation. Two charges in this biography are worthy of especial notice and disproof,—the charge that he was born a bastard, and the charge that he died an infidel. Mr. Lamon begins his pleasing task by raising dark and unfounded insinuations as to the legitimacy of his hero, and then occupies from twenty-five to thirty pages with evidence to prove that Mr. Lincoln was a confirmed infidel, and died playing a "sharp game on the Christian community"; that, in his "morbid ambition for popularity," he would say good Lord or good Devil, "adjusting his religious sentiments to his political interests." In meeting these insinuations and charges I shall necessarily have recourse to political documents and papers, but it shall not be my aim to parade Mr. Lincoln's political opinions, further than to eliminate from his writings and speeches his religious sentiments.

As to the ungracious insinuation that Mr. Lincoln was not the child of lawful wedlock, I have only to say that it is an insinuation unsupported by a shadow of justifiable evidence. The only thing on which Mr. Lamon bases the insinuation is, that he has been unable to find any record of the marriage Mr. Lincoln's parents. Just as if it would be any evidence against the fact of their marriage if no record could be found. If every man in this country is to be considered as illegitimate who cannot produce his parents' certificate of marriage, or find a record of it in a family Bible anywhere, there will be a good many very respectable people in the same category with Mr. Lincoln. Such an insinuation might be raised with as much plausibility in the case of multitudes of the early settlers of the country. It is a questionable act of friendship thus to rake "the short and simple annals of the poor," and upon such slender evidence raise an insinuation so unfounded. But I am prepared to show that if Mr. Lamon has found no record of the marriage of Mr. Lincoln's parents, it is simply because he has not extended his researches as faithfully in this direction as he has in some others. It appears that there is a well-authenticated record of the marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, and, in the same connection, the birth of Abraham Lincoln and Sarah Lincoln. Hearing that the Hon. J. C. Black, of Champaign, Ill., a warm personal friend of Mr. Lincoln, had in his possession several papers given to him soon after Mr. Lincoln's death by a member of the family, and among them a leaf from the family Bible containing the record of the marriage of Mr. Lincoln's parents, I at once telegraphed to him in relation to this record, and have in my possession the following letter, which will explain itself:

Champaign, Ill., Jan. 8th, 1873.

J. A. Reed:

Dear Sir—Your telegram of the 7th reached me this A. M. In reply permit me to say that I was in possession of the leaf of which you speak, and which contained the record of the marriage of Thos. Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, the birth of Abraham Lincoln and Sarah Lincoln. The leaf is very old, and is the last page of the Apocrypha. It was given to me, with certificate of genuineness, by Dennis F. Hanks in 1866. I have sent both record and certificate to Wm. P. Black, attorney at law, 131 La Salle Street, Chicago, Ill., and duly by him delivered to the Illinois Historical Association. Hon. I. N. Arnold called on my brother and obtained the originals for use in a revised edition of his life of Lincoln, and I understand that since then they have passed into the hands of Robt. Lincoln, Esq., where they were when I last heard from them. Hoping that what I have written may be of some use, I remain

Very truly yours,
J. C. Black.

Presuming that the first of Colonel Lamon's libels upon Mr. Lincoln's memory is thus sufficiently disposed of, I proceed to consider the charges against his religious life and character. The best refutation of these charges lies on the pages of the book in which they are advanced. However skeptical Mr. Lincoln may have been in his earlier life, Mr. Lamon persists in asserting and attempting to prove that he continued a confirmed skeptic to the last: that he was an unbeliever in the truth of the Christian religion, and died an infidel; that, while "he was by no means free from a kind of belief in the supernatural, he rejected the great facts of Christianity as wanting the support of authentic evidence"; that, "during all the time of his residence at Springfield and in Washington, he never let fall from his lips an expression which remotely implied the slightest faith in Jesus Christ, as the Son of God and the Saviour of men"; that "he was at all times an infidel." From twenty-five to thirty pages of evidence is produced in proof of this allegation.

But all this positive statement as to Mr. Lincoln's persistent and final infidelity is contradicted by the admissions of the book itself. It is admitted that there did come a time in Mr. Lincoln's life at Springfield when he began to affiliate with Christian people, and to give his personal presence and support to the Church. It is admitted that he did so plausibly identify himself with the Christian community that "his New Salem associates and the aggressive deists with whom he originally united at Springfield gradually dispersed and fell away from his side." Here is the fact, openly and squarely stated by Mr. Lamon, that Mr. Lincoln, even while at Springfield, did make such a change in his sentiments and bearing toward the Christian community, that "the aggressive deists and infidels with whom he originally united gradually dispersed and fell away from his side." He no sooner turned away from them in sentiment than they turned away from him in fact.

But how does the biographer attempt to explain this? How does he account for this admitted and observable change in Mr. Lincoln's life, that relieved him of the presence of so much aggressive deistical company? Why, by means of an explanation that kills the accusation itself—an explanation that fastens upon Mr. Lincoln the very charge of hypocrisy against which he professes to defend him. He accounts for this admitted and observable change in the attitude of Mr. Lincoln towards the Christian community, not by supposing that there was any sincerity about it, but by affirming that he was trying "to play a sharp game on the Christians of Springfield!" It was because "he was a wily politician, and did not disdain to regulate his religious manifestations with reference to his political interests"; and because, "seeing the immense and augmenting power of the churches, he aspired to lead the religious community, foreseeing that in order to his political success he must not appear an enemy within their gates." And yet, if we are to believe Colonel Lamon, he was an enemy all the while at heart; and while attending church, and supporting the Gospel, and making Sabbath school speeches, and speeches before the Bible Society, he was at heart a disbeliever of the truth and an antagonist of the cause which he professed to be supporting. In other words, he was all these years playing the arrant hypocrite; deceiving the Christian community and wheedling it for political purposes; playing the role of a gospel hearer in the sanctuary, and a hail fellow well met with profane fellows of the baser sort in the private sanctum of infidelity or "aggressive deism."

Strangely enough, however, Colonel Lamon and his companion in authorship not only praise Mr. Lincoln's greatness, but laud his singular conscientiousness and integrity of motive almost to perfection. Says Mr. Herndon, "He was justly entitled to the appellation, Honest Abe"; "honesty was his pole star; conscience, the faculty that loves the just and the right, was the second great quality and forte of Mr. Lincoln's character." "He had a deep, broad, living conscience. His great reason told him what was true and good, right and wrong, just or unjust, and his conscience echoed back the decision, and it was from this point he spoke and wove his character and fame among us. His conscience ruled his heart." [See Herndon's letter in Carpenter's Life of Lincoln.]

In confirmation of this, Mr. Lamon goes on to show that Mr. Lincoln scorned everything like hypocrisy or deceit. In fact he makes his hero to be such a paragon of honesty and conscious integrity of motive that he would not undertake to plead a bad cause before a jury if he could possibly shift the responsibility over on to some other lawyer, whose conscience was not quite so tender. He brings in the testimony of a most reputable lawyer of another place in confirmation of this, who states: "That for a man who was for a quarter of a century both a lawyer and a politician, Mr. Lincoln was the most honest man I ever knew. He was not only morally honest but intellectually so. He could not reason falsely; if he attempted it he failed. In politics he never would try to mislead. At the bar, when he thought he was wrong, he was the weakest lawyer I ever saw." "In a closely contested case where Mr. Lincoln had proved an account for a client, who was, though he knew it not, a very slippery fellow, the opposing attorney afterward proved a receipt clearly covering the entire case. By the time he was through Mr. Lincoln was missing. The court sent for him to the hotel. 'Tell the judge,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'that I can't come; my hands are dirty and I came over to clean them.'"

Page after page is thus taken to show Mr. Lincoln's singular conscientiousness and honesty, his incapability of hypocrisy or deceit, as a lawyer, a politician and a gentleman. And yet these consistent biographers go back on all this testimony of their own mouths when they come to explain the admitted change in his life when he began to lean toward the church, and the "aggressive deists" parted company with him. Then they find it convenient to call him a "wily politician," who is "playing a sharp game with the Christians"; "the cautious pretender who does not disdain to regulate his religious manifestations with reference to his political interests." They saddle upon him the vilest hypocrisy and deceit, and make him "act the liar's part," in order to send him down to posterity an infidel. On one page they reason that Mr. Lincoln could not have made any such admissions of his belief in the Christian religion as have been maintained, as such admissions would be contrary to his well-known character; on the next page they affirm that Mr. Lincoln could not act the hypocrite; and on a third they do not hesitate to attribute to him the very grossest duplicity, in their zeal to fasten on him the charge of permanent skepticism. They go back on their own logic, eat their own argument, and give the lie to the very charge they are laboring with such considerable pains to establish.

The book, therefore, I repeat, bears on its own pages the best refutation of the charge it makes against Mr. Lincoln. Surely, such serious inconsistency of statement, such illogical absurdity, even, could hardly have escaped the notice of the biographers if some preconceived opinion had not prejudiced their minds and blinded their eyes. The animus of the book and the purpose for which it was written are only too apparent.

Perhaps it might suffice to rest the refutation of this charge against Mr. Lincoln's religious character on the internal evidence of Colonel Lamon's volume with which I have thus far been occupied. But there is something to be said concerning the authenticity and accuracy of the testimony by which the charge seems to be supported.

I have been amazed to find that the principal persons whose testimony is given in this book to prove that their old friend lived and died an infidel, never wrote a word of it, and never gave it as their opinion or allowed it to be published as covering their estimate of Mr. Lincoln's life and religious views. They were simply familiarly interviewed, and their testimony misrepresented, abridged and distorted to suit the purpose of the interviewer, and the business he had on hand.

The two gentlemen whose names are most relied upon, and who stand first on the list of witnesses to establish the charge these biographers have made, are the Hon. John T. Stuart, and Col. Jas. H. Matheny, of Springfield, old and intimate friends of Mr. Lincoln.

Hon. John T. Stuart is an ex-member of Congress, and was Mr. Lincoln's first law partner,—a gentleman of the highest standing and ability in his profesion, and of unimpeachable integrity. Mr. Lamon has attributed to Mr. Stuart testimony the most disparaging and damaging to Mr. Lincoln's character and opinions,—testimony which Mr. Stuart utterly repudiates, both as to language and sentiment, as the following letter shows:—

Springfield, Dec. 17th, 1872.

Rev. J. A. Reed:

Dear Sir—My attention has been called to a statement in relation to the religious opinions of Mr. Lincoln, purporting to have been made by me and published in Lamon's Life of Lincoln. The language of that statement is not mine; it was not written by me, and I did not see it until it was in print.

I was once interviewed on the subject of Mr. Lincoln's religious opinions, and doubtless said that Mr. Lincoln was in the earlier part of his life an infidel. I could not have said that "Dr. Smith tried to convert Lincoln from infidelity so late as 1858, and couldn't do it." In relation to that point, I stated, in the same conversation, some facts which are omitted in that statement, and which I will briefly repeat. That Eddie, a child of Mr. Lincoln, died in 1848 or 1849, and that he and his wife were in deep grief on that account. That Dr. Smith, then Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, at the suggestion of a lady friend of theirs, called upon Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, and that first visit resulted in great intimacy and friendship between them, lasting till the death of Mr. Lincoln, and continuing with Mrs. Lincoln till the death of Dr. Smith. I stated that I had heard, at the time, that Dr. Smith and Mr. Lincoln had much discussion in relation to the truth of the Christian religion, and that Dr. Smith had furnished Mr. Lincoln with books to read on that subject, and among others one which had been written by himself, some time previous, on infidelity; and that Dr. Smith claimed that after this investigation Mr. Lincoln had changed his opinion, and become a believer in the truth of the Christian religion: that Mr. Lincoln and myself never conversed upon that subject, and I had no personal knowledge as to his alleged change of opinion. I stated, however, that it was certainly true, that up to that time Mr. Lincoln had never regularly attended any place of religious worship, but that after that time he rented a pew in the First Presbyterian Church, and with his family constantly attended the worship in that church until he went to Washington as President. This much I said at the time, and can now add that the Hon. Ninian W. Edwards, the brother-in-law of Mr. Lincoln, has, within a few days, informed me that when Mr. Lincoln commenced attending the First Presbyterian Church he admitted to him that his views had undergone the change claimed by Dr. Smith.

I would further say that Dr. Smith was a man of very great ability and on theological and metaphysical subjects had few superiors and not many equals.

Truthfulness was a prominent trait in Mr. Lincoln's character, and it would be impossible for any intimate friend of his to believe that he ever aimed to deceive, either by his words or his conduct.

Yours truly,
John T. Stuart.

Similar testimony, to the extent of a page or more of finely printed matter, Mr. Lamon attributes to Col. Jas. H. Matheny, of Springfield, Ill., an old acquaintance of Mr. Lincoln, an able lawyer and of high standing in the community. Mr. Matheny testifies that he never wrote a word of what is attributed to him; that it is not a fair representation of either his language or his opinions, and that he never would have allowed such an article to be published as covering his estimate of Mr. Lincoln's life and character. Here is what this gentleman has to say, given over his own signature:—

Springfield, Dec. 16th, 1872.

Rev. J. A. Reed:

Dear Sir—The language attributed to me in Lamon's book is not from my pen. I did not write it, and it does not express my sentiments of Mr. Lincoln's entire life and character. It is a mere collection of sayings gathered from private conversations that were only true of Mr. Lincoln's earlier life. I would not have allowed such an article to be printed over my signature as covering my opinion of Mr. Lincoln's life and religious sentiments. While I do believe Mr. Lincoln to have been an infidel in his former life, when his mind was as yet unformed, and his associations principally with rough and skeptical men, yet I believe he was a very different man in later life; and that after associating with a different class of men, and investigating the subject, he was a firm believer in the Christian religion.

Yours truly,
Jas. H. Matheny.

It is unnecessary that I occupy more space with the rest of the testimony, as there is none of it given over the signature of anybody, save that which is given over the signature of W. H. Herndon. All aside from this bears evidence of having been manipulated to suit the purpose for which it is wanted, and is either contradictory, or fails to cover the whole of Mr. Lincoln's life. Judge Davis, for instance, is made to say: "I don't know anything about Lincoln's religion, nor do I think anybody else knows anything about it." Of what value can the testimony be that is prefaced with such declarations of knowing nothing about the matter?

John G. Nicolay is made to testify, that "to his knowledge Mr. Lincoln did not change his views after he came to Washington"; and yet he states in immediate connection that "he does not know what his views were, never having heard him explain them."

Jesse W. Fell either testifies, or is made to testify, to Mr. Lincoln's skeptical notions. And yet Mr. Fell admits that it "was eight or ten years previous to his death" that he believed him to be entertaining the views of which he speaks, "and that he may have changed his sentiments after his removal from among us." All this would be strange kind of testimony on which to convict Mr. Lincoln of murder in the presence of a judge and jury. But with such evidence it is sought to convict him of infidelity.

We are enabled to see, therefore, in the light of this revelation, of what "trustworthy materials" this book is composed; how much Mr. Lamon's "names and dates and authorities, by which he strengthens his testimony," are to be depended upon; and what reason unsuspecting or sympathizing critics and journalists have for arriving at the sage conclusion that Mr. Lincoln "was, in his habit of thought, heterodox in the extreme to the close of his life, and a very different man from what he was supposed to be." The evidence of this book, so far as the prominent witnesses are concerned, and so far as it relates to the later years of Mr. Lincoln's life, is not only utterly untrustworthy, but even an ingenious and romantic invention.

Having shown what claims Mr. Lamon's book has to being the "only fair and reliable history" of Mr. Lincoln's life and views, and of what "trustworthy materials" it is composed, I shall now give the testimony I have collected to establish what has ever been the public impression, that Mr. Lincoln was in his later life, and at the time of his death, a firm believer in the truth of the Christian religion. The infidelity of his earlier life is not so much to be wondered at, when we consider the poverty of his early religious instruction and the peculiar influences by which he was surrounded. Gideon Welles, formerly Secretary of the Navy, in a recent article in the Galaxy, in accounting for the late and peculiar manifestation of faith which Mr. Lincoln exhibited, says: "It was doubtless to be attributed in a great measure to the absence of early religious culture—a want of educational advantages in his youthful frontier life." This, together with the fact that his youth and early manhood were spent chiefly among a rough, illiterate and skeptical class of people, is amply confirmed by Mr. Lamon's narrative.

On the same authority it appears that Mr. Lincoln had in his former life read but few books, and that everything he had read, of an intellectual character, bearing on the truth of the Bible, was of an infidel sort. It does not appear that he had ever seen, much less read, a work on the evidences of Christianity till his interview with Rev. Dr. Smith in 1848. We hear of him as reading Paine, Voltaire and Theodore Parker, but nothing on the other side. The men by whom he was surrounded in his earlier life, it seems, kept him well supplied with their kind of literature. He was familiar with some of the master spirits of infidelity and theism, but had never grappled with the evidences of Christianity as presented by the great defenders of the Christian faith.

But then Mr. Lincoln's mind was of too much greatness and intellectual candor to remain the victim of a false theory in the presence of clear and sufficient intellectual testimony. And he no sooner, in the providence of God, was placed in possession of the truth, and led to investigate for himself, than he stood firmly and avowedly on the side of the Christian religion.

In proof of this statement, I first of all produce the testimony of Rev. Dr. Smith, Mr. Lincoln's pastor at Springfield. In relation to Mr. Lincoln's opinion of Dr. Smith, it is only necessary for me to state that he stood so high in his esteem, that he gave him the appointment of Consul to Glasgow. Dr. Smith was in Scotland at the time of Mr. Lincoln's death, and soon after this sad event, Mr. Herndon conceived the notion of collecting materials for his intended biography. He accordingly addressed a letter to Dr. Smith in Scotland, with the view of getting some information from so respectable a source to prove that Mr. Lincoln had died an infidel. In this however he was mistaken, to his evident chagrin and disappointment. I shall give some extracts from Dr. Smith's printed letter, which is to be found in the Springfield Journal of March, 1867, in which he gives his opinion of both Mr. Herndon and Mr. Lincoln.

East Cainno, Scotland, 24th Jan. 1867.

W. H. Herndon, Esq.:

Sir—Your letter of the 20th Dec. was duly received. In it you ask me to answer several questions in relation to the illustrious President Abraham Lincoln. With regard to your second question, I beg leave to say it is a very easy matter to prove that while I was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of v Springfield, Mr. Lincoln did avow his belief in the divine authority and inspiration of the Scriptures, and I hold that it is a matter of the last importance not only to the present, but all future generations of the Great Republic, and to all advocates of civil and religious liberty throughout the world, that this avowal on his part, and the circumstances attending it, together with very interesting incidents illustrative of the excellence of his character, in my possession, should be made known to the public. I am constrained, however, most respectfully to decline choosing you as the medium through which such a communication shall be made by me. [Omitting that portion of the letter which bears on Mr. Herndon, I give what is written in vindication of Mr. Lincoln.—J. A. R.] My intercourse with Abraham Lincoln convinced me that he was not only an honest man, but preëminently an upright man—ever ready, so far as in his power, to render unto all their dues.

It was my honor to place before Mr. Lincoln arguments designed to prove the divine authority and inspiration of the Scriptures, accompanied by the arguments of infidel objectors in their own language. To the arguments on both sides Mr. Lincoln gave a most patient, impartial, and searching investigation. To use his own language, he examined the arguments as a lawyer who is anxious to reach the truth investigates testimony. The result was the announcement by himself that the argument in favor of the divine authority and inspiration of the Scriptures was unanswerable. I could say much more on this subject, but as you are the person addressed, for the present I decline. The assassin Booth, by his diabolical act, unwittingly sent the illustrious martyr to glory, honor, and immortality; but his false friend has attempted to send him down to posterity with infamy branded on his forehead, as a man who, notwithstanding all he suffered for his country's good, was destitute of those feelings and affections without which there can be no real excellency of character. Sir, I am with due respect your obedient servant,

Jas. Smith.

N.B.—It will no doubt be gratifying to the friends of Christianity to learn that very shortly after Mr. Lincoln became a member of my congregation, at my request, in the presence of a large assembly at the annual meeting of the Bible Society of Springfield, he delivered an address the object of which was to inculcate the importance of having the Bible placed in possession of every family in the State. In the course of it he drew a striking contrast between the Decalogue and the moral codes of the most eminent lawgivers of antiquity, and closed (as near as I can recollect) in the following language: "It seems to me that nothing short of infinite wisdom could by any possibility have devised and given to man this excellent and perfect moral code. It is suited to men in all conditions of life and includes all the duties they owe to their Creator, to themselves, and to their fellow-men."

J. S.

Mr. Lamon, aware of the importance of Dr. Smith's testimony, attempts to break the force of it by the argumentum ad nauseam. He alludes to Dr. Smith as a gentleman of "slender abilities for the conversion of so distinguished a person, and as having in his zeal composed a heavy tract out of his own head to suit the particular case, and that he afterwards drew the acknowledgment from Mr. Lincoln that it was unanswerable," and that he himself is the only man that can testify of such an admission on the part of Mr. Lincoln. This is all the gratuitous assertion of a man who is driven to the wall for evidence to prove his point. Now John T. Stuart has already testified to Dr. Smith's abilities as a theologian and a metaphysician having few superiors. He testifies to the fact that Dr. Smith's work was not written to suit Mr. Lincoln's case. It was written previously, before Dr. Smith ever saw Mr. Lincoln. Nor is it true that Dr. Smith is the only one who can testify to an admission on the part of Mr. Lincoln of a change of sentiments. There are many residents of Springfield, both ladies and gentlemen, who can testify to this admission. I give one or two letters as a sample.

Springfield, Dec. 24th, 1872.

Rev. Jas. Reed:

Dear Sir—A short time after the Rev. Dr. Smith became pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in this city, Mr. Lincoln said to me, "I have been reading a work of Dr. Smith on the evidences of Christianity, and have heard him preach and converse on the subject, and I am now convinced of the truth of the Christian religion."

Yours truly,
N. W. Edwards.

Springfield, Jan. 6th, 1873.

Rev. J. A. Reed:

Dear Sir—Not long after Dr. Smith came to Springfield, and I think very near the time of his son's death, Mr. Lincoln said to me, that when on a visit somewhere, he had seen and partially read a work of Dr. Smith on the evidences of Christianity which had led him to change his views about the Christian religion; that he would like to get that work to finish the reading of it, and also to make the acquaintance of Dr. Smith. I was an elder in Dr. Smith's church, and took Dr. Smith to Mr. Lincoln's office and introduced him, and Dr. Smith gave Mr. Lincoln a copy of his book, as I know, at his own request.

Yours, &c.,
Thos. Lewis.

There are many others who can testify that Mr. Lincoln, both publicly and privately while at Springfield, made the admission of his belief in the truth of the Christian religion. He did it in most unequivocal language, in addresses before the Bible Society and in Sabbath school.

I next refer to the testimony of Rev. Dr. Gurley, Mr. Lincoln's pastor at Washington City. Even if, before his election to the Presidency, Mr. Lincoln had entertained the sentiments attributed to him, after he had reached the pinnacle of political elevation, there was certainly no necessity for him any longer to be "playing a sharp game with the Christians," and destroying his peace of mind by wearing the mask of hypocrisy. He was surely free now to worship where he felt most comfortable. But we no sooner find him in Washington than we find him settling down under the ministry of Dr. Gurley, a sound and orthodox minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Dr. Gurley was his intimate friend, and spiritual counselor and adviser, during the most trying and difficult time of his life. He was with him not only in the hours of his personal family bereavement, but when his heart was heavy and perplexed with the welfare of his country. Having been associated with Dr. Gurley in the charge of his pulpit for a time previous to his death, and being intimately acquainted with him, I have had the opportunity of knowing what his views of Mr. Lincoln's sentiments were. In the funeral oration which Dr. Gurley delivered in Washington, he says:

"Probably since the days of Washington no man was ever so deeply and firmly embedded and enshrined in the hearts of the people as Abraham Lincoln. Nor was it a mistaken confidence and love. He deserved it—deserved it all. He merited it by his character, by his acts, and by the whole tone and tenor of his life.... His integrity was thorough, all-pervading, all-controlling and incorruptible. He saw his duty as the Chief Magistrate of a great and imperiled people, and he determined to do his duty, seeking the guidance, and leaning on the arm of Him of whom it is written: 'He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.'

"Never shall I forget the emphatic and deep emotion with which he said in this very room, to a company of clergymen who called to pay their respects to him in the darkest days of our civil conflict: 'Gentlemen, my hope of success in this struggle rests on that immutable foundation, the justness and the goodness of God; and when events are very threatening I shall hope that in some way all will be well in the end, because our cause is just and God will be on our side.'"

This was uttered when Dr. Gurley was not aware, as I suppose, that Mr. Lincoln had ever been charged with entertaining infidel sentiments. While sitting in the study one day with him, conversing on Mr. Lincoln's character, I asked him about the rumor of his infidelity then being circulated by Mr. Herndon. He said, "I do not believe a word of it. It could not have been true of him while here, for I have had frequent and intimate conversations with him on the subject of the Bible and the Christian religion, when he could have had no motive to deceive me, and I considered him sound not only on the truth of the Christian religion but on all its fundamental doctrines and teaching. And more than that: in the latter days of his chastened and weary life, after the death of his son Willie, and his visit to the battlefield of Gettysburg, he said, with tears in his eyes, that he had lost confidence in everything but God, and that he now believed his heart was changed, and that he loved the Saviour, and if he was not deceived in himself, it was his intention soon to make a profession of religion." Language to this effect Mr. Lincoln, it appears, used in conversation with other persons, and I refer next to the corroborating testimony of Noah Brooks, Esq., now associated with the New York Tribune. This gentleman has already published most interesting testimony in relation to Mr. Lincoln's religious sentiments in Harper's Monthly of July, 1865. In order that his testimony may be fully appreciated, I will here state, on the authority of a mutual friend, that "Mr. Brooks is himself an earnest Christian man, and had the appointment of private secretary to the President, to which office he would have acceded had Mr. Lincoln lived. He was so intimate with the President that he visited him socially at times when others were refused admission, took tea with the family, spending evenings with him, reading to him, and conversing with him freely on social and religious topics, and in my opinion knows more of the secret inner life and religious views of Mr. Lincoln, at least during the term of his presidency, than any man living." The following is a letter which I have received from Mr. Brooks in relation to his views of Mr. Lincoln's religious sentiments:

New York, Dec. 31st, 1872.

Rev. J. A. Reed:

My dear Sir—In addition to what has appeared from my pen, I will state that I have had many conversations with Mr. Lincoln, which were more or less of a religious character, and while I never tried to draw anything like a statement of his views from him, yet he freely expressed himself to me as having "a hope of blessed immortality through Jesus Christ." His views seemed to settle so naturally around that statement, that I considered no other necessary. His language seemed not that of an inquirer, but of one who had a prior settled belief in the fundamental doctrines of the Christian religion. Once or twice, speaking to me of the change which had come upon him, he said, while he could not fix any definite time, yet it was after he came here, and I am very positive that in his own mind he identified it with about the time of Willie's death. He said, too, that after he went to the White House he kept up the habit of daily prayer. Sometimes he said it was only ten words, but those ten words he had. There is no possible reason to suppose that Mr. Lincoln would ever deceive me as to his religious sentiments. In many conversations with him, I absorbed the firm conviction that Mr. Lincoln was at heart a Christian man, believed in the Saviour, and was seriously considering the step which would formally connect him with the visible Church on earth. Certainly, any suggestion as to Mr. Lincoln's skepticism or infidelity, to me who knew him intimately from 1862 till the time of his death, is a monstrous fiction—a shocking perversion.

Yours truly,
Noah Brooks.

The following extract I add also from Mr. Brooks's article in Harper's Monthly of July, 1865: "There was something touching in his childlike and simple reliance on Divine aid, especially when in such extremities as he sometimes fell into; then, though prayer and reading the Scriptures was his constant habit, he more earnestly than ever sought that strength which is promised when mortal help faileth. He said once, 'I have been many times driven to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for that day.' At another time he said,

'I am very sure that if I do not go away from here a wiser man, I shall go away a better man for having learned here what a very poor sort of a man I am.'"

Mr. Carpenter, author of Six Months in the White House, whose intimacy with Mr. Lincoln gives importance to his testimony, says that "he believed Mr. Lincoln to be a sincere Christian," and among other proofs of it gives another well-authenticated admission (made by Mr. Lincoln to an estimable lady of Brooklyn, laboring in the Christian Commission) of a change of heart, and of his intention at some suitable opportunity to make a profession of religion.

Mr. Newton Bateman, Superintendent of Public Instruction in the State of Illinois, a gentleman of rare literary attainments, and of unquestionable veracity, has given very important testimony in relation to one particular point, more especially, Mr. Lincoln's belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ. Both Mr. Herndon and Mr. Lamon persist in asserting that Mr. Lincoln never used the name of Jesus Christ except to deny His divinity, and that Mr. Bateman is "the sole and only man who dare say that Mr. Lincoln believed Jesus Christ to be the Son of God."

Mr. Bateman testifies that in 1860, Mr. Lincoln in conversation with him used the following language: "I know that there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place and a work for me, and I think He has, I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is everything. I know I am right, because I know that liberty is right, for Christ teaches it and Christ is God. I have told them a house divided against itself cannot stand; and Christ and reason say the same, and they will find it so," &c. This testimony was originally given in Holland's Life of Lincoln. Mr. Herndon, at first unwilling to impeach Mr. Bateman's veracity, suggests a doubt "whether he is correctly reported in Holland's history"; presently, however, summoning courage, he ventures the affirmation: "On my word the world may take it for granted that Holland is wrong; that he does not state Mr. Lincoln's views correctly." He then goes on to say that "between himself and Dr. Holland, Mr. Bateman is not in a very pleasant situation." We have seen, however, that Mr. Herndon's "word," in a matter where his prejudices are so violent and his convictions so obstinate, is hardly a sufficient denial with which to oppose the deliberate and unretracted statement of an intelligent and reputable witness. And Mr. Bateman has no need to be disturbed, so long as the "unpleasantness" of his situation is occasioned by no more serious discomfort than Mr. Herndon's unsupported contradiction. As the matter now stands, Mr. Herndon offers a denial, based on general impressions as to Mr. Lincoln's character, against the direct, specific, and detailed testimony of a careful and competent man as to what he heard with his own ears. Mr. Herndon simply did not hear what Mr. Bateman did hear; and is in the position of that Irishman on trial for his life, who, when one witness swore directly that he saw the accused commit the crime, proposed to put upon the stand a dozen witnesses who could swear they did not see him.

Mr. Lamon also states that Mr. Bateman is a respectable citizen, whose general reputation for truth and veracity is not to be impeached, but his story, as reported in Holland's Life of Lincoln, is so inconsistent with Mr. Lincoln's whole character that it must be rejected as altogether incredible. Unfortunately, however, for Mr. Lamon, he has not so impressed us with the trustworthy nature of the materials of his own book, as that we can afford to distrust the honesty and integrity of either Dr. Holland or Mr. Bateman for his sake. If anybody's story of Mr. Lincoln's life and sentiments is to be "rejected as inconsistent and altogether incredible," the testimony thus far would seem to indicate that it is Mr. Lamon's story. At least that is the "unpleasant situation" in which we shall leave the matter, so far as Mr. Bateman and Dr. Holland are concerned in it.

But Mr. Bateman is not the only one who can testify that Mr. Lincoln did use the name of the Saviour, and believed him to be the Christ of God. I have given several instances already in which he used the name of Christ as his Saviour, and avowed that he loved Him. Moreover, he could not have avowed his belief in the truth of the Christian religion, as many witnesses testify, if he did not believe Jesus to be the Christ of God.

To the various testimony which we have thus far cited it only remains for me to add the testimony of his own lips. In his address to the colored people of Baltimore, on the occasion of the presentation of a copy of the Bible, Mr. Lincoln said: "In regard to this great Book, I have only to say, it is the best gift which God has ever given to man. All the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated to us through this Book."

To the Hon. H. C. Deming, of Connecticut, he said that the "article of his faith was contained in the Saviour's condensed statement of both law and gospel—'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.'"

Mr. Herndon affirms that Mr. Lincoln did not believe in the "Christian dogma of the forgiveness of sin": he believed that "God would not and could not forgive sin. He did not believe in forgiveness through Christ, nor in fact in any doctrine of forgiveness. In reading Mr. Lincoln's proclamations, however, we find that he does very distinctly recognize the doctrine of the forgiveness of sin on the part of God, and very earnestly implores the people to seek the forgiveness of their sins. In his proclamation of a fast day, August, 1861, are these words:

"And, whereas, it is fit and becoming in all people, at all times, to acknowledge and revere the supreme government of God; to bow in humble submission to his chastisements; to confess and deplore their sins and transgressions, in the full conviction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and to pray with all fervency and contrition for the pardon of their past offenses, and for a blessing on their present and prospective action," etc.

Read also his proclamation enforcing the observance of the Christian Sabbath in the Army and Navy, and ask yourself, Could an infidel have done this?

The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and men in the military and naval service. The importance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a Christian people, and a due regard for the Divine will, demand that Sunday labor in the Army and Navy be reduced to the measure of a strict necessity. The discipline and character of the National forces should not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled, by the profanation of the day and the name of the Most High. At this time of public distress, adopting the words of Washington in 1776, "Men may find enough to do in the service of God and their country without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality." The first general order issued by the Father of his Country, after the Declaration of Independence, indicates the spirit in which our institutions were founded and should ever be defended: "The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country."

Abraham Lincoln.

Besides all this, we find Mr. Lincoln often using the very language of the Saviour, as not only expressing but giving the sanction of Divine authority to his own views and opinions. What a remarkable instance of it in the solemn words that fell from his lips in his last inaugural, as he stood on the steps of the Capitol! Standing upon the verge of his grave, as he was that day, and addressing his last official words to his countrymen, his lips touched as with the finger of inspiration, he said:

"The Almighty has His own purposes. 'Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses will come; but woe unto the man by whom the offense cometh.' If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of these offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern any departure therein from those Divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that the mighty scourge of war may pass away. Yet if God will that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid with another drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so must it still be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'"

Thus it appears, that whether Mr. Lincoln was ever accustomed to blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ or not, or whether he was ever accustomed to deny His divinity or not, as his defamers allege, he is willing, in the last eventful days of his life, standing at the nation's Capitol, in the hearing of the swelling multitude that hangs upon his lips, to use the sanction of Divine authority to one of the most remarkable sentences of his official address.

Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, of Chicago, an intimate acquaintance of Mr. Lincoln, and who is engaged in a review of his work on Mr. Lincoln's life, writes me that "from the time he left Springfield, with the touching request for the prayers of his friends and neighbors, to the day of his death, his words were the words of a Christian, revering the Bible, and obeying its precepts. A spirit of reverence and deep religious feeling pervades nearly all the public utterances and state papers of his later life."

The following interesting testimony from Rev. Dr. Byron Sunderland, of the First Presbyterian Church of Washington City, gives us a little insight into the philosophy of Mr. Lincoln's mind and religious sentiments:

Washington City, Nov. 15th, 1872.

Rev. Jas. A. Reed:

Dear Bro.—It was in the last days of 1862, about the time Mr. Lincoln was seriously contemplating the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation, that I, in company with some friends of the President, called upon him. After some conversation, in which he seemed disposed to have his joke and fun, he settled down to a serious consideration of the subject before his mind, and for one half-hour poured forth a volume of the deepest Christian philosophy I ever heard. He began by saying—

"The ways of God are mysterious and profound beyond all comprehension—'who by searching can find Him out?' Now, judging after the manner of men, taking counsel of our sympathies and feelings, if it had been left to us to determine it, we would have had no war. And going further back to the occasion of it, we would have had no slavery. And tracing it still further back, we would have had no evil. There is the mystery of the universe which no man can solve, and it is at that point that the human understanding utterly backs down. And then there is nothing left but for the heart of man to take up faith and believe and trust where it cannot reason. Now, I believe we are all agents and instruments of Divine providence. On both sides we are working out the will of God; yet how strange the spectacle! Here is one half the nation prostrated in prayer that God will help them to destroy the Union and build up a government upon the cornerstone of human bondage. And here is the other half equally earnest in their prayers and efforts to defeat a purpose which they regard as so repugnant to their ideas of human nature and the rights of society, as well as liberty and independence. They want slavery; we want freedom. They want a servile class; we want to make equality practical as far as possible. And they are Christians, and we are Christians. They and we are praying and fighting for results exactly the opposite. What must God think of such a posture of affairs? There is but one solution—self-deception. Somewhere there is a fearful heresy in our religion, and I cannot think it lies in the love of liberty and in the aspirations of the human soul.

"What I am to do in the present emergency time will determine. I hold myself in my present position and with the authority vested in me as an instrument of Providence. I have my own views and purposes, I have my convictions of duty, and my notions of what is right to be done. But I am conscious every moment that all I am and all I have is subject to the control of a Higher Power, and that Power can use me or not use me in any manner, and at any time, as in His wisdom and might may be pleasing to Him.

"Nevertheless, I am no fatalist. I believe in the supremacy of the human conscience, and that men are responsible beings; that God has a right to hold them, and will hold them, to a strict personal account for the deeds done in the body. But, sirs, I do not mean to give you a lecture upon the doctrines of the Christian religion. These are simply with me the convictions and realities of great and vital truths, the power and demonstration of which I see now in the light of this our national struggle as I have never seen before. God only knows the issue of this business. He has destroyed nations from the map of history for their sins. Nevertheless my hopes prevail generally above my fears for our own Republic. The times are dark, the spirits of ruin are abroad in all their power, and the mercy of God alone can save us."

So did the President discourse until we felt we were imposing on his time, and rising we took our leave of him, confident that he would be true to those convictions of right and duty which were derived from so deep a Christian philosophy.

Yours truly,
Byron Sunderland.

The Rev. Dr. Miner, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Springfield, who was intimately acquainted with Mr. Lincoln, and visited him and his family in Washington previous to his death, has left most interesting testimony in reference to Mr. Lincoln's religious sentiments, confirmatory of what has been given, and which is preserved in the archives of the University of Chicago. Dr. Miner sums up his impressions of Mr. Lincoln as follows: "All that was said during that memorable afternoon I spent alone with that great and good man is engraven too deeply on my memory ever to be effaced. I felt certain of this fact, that if Mr. Lincoln was not really an experimental Christian, he was acting like one. He was doing his duty manfully, and looking to God for help in time of need; and, like the immortal Washington, he believed in the efficacy of prayer, and it was his custom to read the Scriptures and pray himself." And here I would relate an incident which occurred on the 4th of March, 1861, as told me by Mrs. Lincoln. Said she: "Mr. Lincoln wrote the conclusion of his inaugural address the morning it was delivered. The family being present, he read it to them. He then said he wished to be left alone for a short time. The family retired to an adjoining room, but not so far distant but that the voice of prayer could be distinctly heard. There, closeted with God alone, surrounded by the enemies who were ready to take his life, he commended his country's cause and all dear to him to God's providential care, and with a mind calmed with communion with his Father in heaven, and courage equal to the danger, he came forth from that retirement ready for duty."

With such testimony, gathered from gentlemen of the highest standing, and much more that I could add to confirm it, I leave the later life and religious sentiments of Abraham Lincoln to the dispassionate and charitable judgment of a grateful people. While it is to be regretted that Mr. Lincoln was not spared to indicate his religious sentiments by a profession of his faith in accordance with the institutions of the Christian religion, yet it is very clear that he had this step in view, and was seriously contemplating it, as a sense of its fitness and an apprehension of his duty grew upon him. He did not ignore a relation to the Christian church as an obsolete duty and an unimportant matter. How often do we hear him thanking God for the churches! And he was fast bringing his life into conformity to the Christian standard. The coarse story-telling of his early days was less indulged in in his later life. Hon. Isaac N. Arnold, and Mr. Carpenter, as well as Mr. Lincoln's physician at Washington, Dr. Stone, all testify that "while his stories and anecdotes were racy, witty, and pointed beyond all comparison," yet they "never heard one of a character needing palliation or excuse." His physician, Dr. Stone, testifies that "Mr. Lincoln was the purest-hearted man he ever came in contact with."

His disposition to attend the theater in later life (if to anyone it seems to need apology) was not so much a fondness for the playhouse as a relief from his mental anxiety, and an escape from the incessant pressure of visitors at the White House. "It is a well-known fact," says Dr. Miner, "that he would not have been at the theater on that fatal night, but to escape the multitude who were that evening pressing into the White House to shake hands with him. It has been said that Mrs. Lincoln urged her husband to go to the theater against his will. This is not true. On the contrary, she tried to persuade him not to go, but he insisted. He said, 'I must have a little rest. A large and overjoyed, excited people will visit me tonight. My arms are lame by shaking hands with the multitude, and the people will pull me to pieces.' He went to the theater, not because he was interested in the play, but because he was care-worn and needed quiet and repose. Mrs. Lincoln informed me that he seemed to take no notice of what was going on in the theater from the time he entered it till the discharge of the fatal pistol. She said that the last day he lived was the happiest of his life. The very last moments of his conscious life were spent in conversation with her about his future plans, and what he wanted to do when his term of office expired. He said he wanted to visit the Holy Land and see the places hallowed by the footprints of the Saviour. He was saying there was no city he so much desired to see as Jerusalem; and with that word half spoken on his tongue, the bullet of the assassin entered his brain, and the soul of the great and good President was carried by angels to the New Jerusalem above."

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APPENDIX V

TWO HERNDON LETTERS CONCERNING LINCOLN'S
RELIGION

BRIEF ANALYSIS OF LINCOLN'S CHARACTER

Springfield, Ill., Sept. 10, 1887.

J. E. Remsburg, Oak Mills, Kansas.

Friend Remsburg: Today I send you Speed's lecture on "Lincoln," which you can keep till I send for it—and this will probably be never. It is a very poor lecture if the lecture contains his knowledge of Lincoln, and, I guess it does. It shows no insight into Lincoln at all, though it is well enough written. It is said that Speed had a world of influence over Lincoln. This may be so, and yet I never saw it. It is said by Nicolay and Hay that Lincoln poured out his soul to Speed. Bah! Nonsense! Probably, except in his love scrapes, Lincoln never poured out his soul to any mortal creature at any time and on no subject. He was the most secretive, reticent, shut-mouthed man that ever existed.

You had to guess at the man after years of acquaintance and then you must look long and keenly before you guessed, or you would make an ass of yourself.

You had to take some leading—great leading and well-established—fact of Lincoln's nature and then follow it by accurate and close analysis wherever it went.

This process would lead you correctly if you knew human nature and its laws. Lincoln was a mystery to the world; he loved principle, but moved ever just to suit his own ends; he was a trimmer among men, though firm on laws and great principles; he did not care for men; they were his tools and instruments; he was a cool man—an unsocial one—an abstracted one, having the very quintessence of the profoundest policies. Lincoln's heart was tender, full of mercy, if in his presence some imaginative man presented the subject to him. "Out of sight, out of mind" may truthfully be said of Lincoln. If I am correct, what do you think of the stories afloat about what Lincoln said in relation to his religion, especially said to strangers? I send you two "Truth-Seekers" which you will please read where I speak of Lincoln in three letters, pages marked at the top. You will learn something of Lincoln's nature in those three letters of mine—two of them on Lincoln's religion, and one to a minister. Please read them. There are some quotations in these letters which I have never had time to send you as I recollect it. They are good things—one on Laws of Human Nature and one on the Pride-Haughtiness of Christians. Lincoln delivered a lecture in which these quotations are to be found. I heard him deliver it.

W. H. Herndon.

P. S.—Mr. Speed was my boss for three or four years and Lincoln, Speed, Hurst, and I slept in the same room for a year or so. I was clerk for Speed. Speed could make Lincoln do much about simple measures, policies, not involving any principle. Beyond this power Speed did not have much influence over Lincoln nor did anyone else.

A CARD AND A CORRECTION

I wish to say a few short words to the public and private ear. About the year 1870 I wrote a letter to F. E. Abbott, then of Ohio, touching Mr. Lincoln's religion. In that letter I stated that Mr. Lincoln was an infidel, sometimes bordering on atheism, and I now repeat the same. In the year 1873 the Right Rev. James A. Reed, pastor and liar of this city, gave a lecture on Mr. Lincoln's religion, in which he tried to answer some things which I never asserted, except as to Mr. Lincoln's infidelity, which I did assert and now and here affirm. Mr. Lincoln was an infidel of the radical type; he never mentioned the name of Jesus except to scorn and detest the idea of miraculous conception. This lecture of the withered minister will be found in Holland's Review [Scribner's Monthly]. I answered this lecture in 1874, I think, in this city to a large and intelligent audience—had it printed and sent a copy to Holland, requesting, in polite language, that he insert it in his Review as an answer to the Reed lecture. The request was denied me, as a matter of course. He could help to libel a man with Christian courage, and with Christian cowardice refuse to unlibel him.

Soon thereafter, say from 1874 to 1882, I saw floating around in the newspaper literature, such charges as "Herndon is in a lunatic asylum, well chained," "Herndon is a pauper," "Herndon is a drunkard," "Herndon is a vile infidel and a knave, a liar and a drunkard," and the like. I have contradicted all these things under my own hand, often, except as to my so-called infidelity, liberalism, free religious opinions, or what-not. In the month of October, 1882, I saw in and clipped out of the Cherryvale Globe-News of September, 1882, a paper published in the State of Kansas, the following rich and racy article; it is as follows:

"Lincoln's Old Law Partner a Pauper

"Bill Herndon is a pauper in Springfield, Ill. He was once worth considerable property. His mind was the most argumentative of any of the old lawyers in the State, and his memory was extraordinary. For several years before Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency, Herndon was in some respects the most active member of the firm, preparing the greatest number of cases for trial and making elaborate arguments in their behalf. It is said that he worked hard with Lincoln in preparing the memorable speeches by the man who afterward became President, during the debates between Lincoln and Douglas in 1858, and in constructing the Cooper Union address delivered by Lincoln a short time before the war. Herndon, with all his attainments, was a man who now and then went on a spree, and it was no uncommon thing for him to leave an important lawsuit and spend several days in drinking and carousing. This habit became worse after Lincoln's death, and like poor Dick Yates, Herndon went down step by step till his old friends and associates point to him as a common drunkard."

There are three distinct charges in the above article. First, that I am a pauper. Second, that I am a common drunkard, and third, that I was a traitor or false to my clients. Let me answer these charges in their order. First, I am not a pauper. Never have been and expect never to be. I am working on my farm, making my own living with my own muscle and brain, a place and a calling that even Christianity with its persecution and malignity can never reach me to do much harm. I had, it is true, once a considerable property, but lost much of it in the crash and consequent crisis of 1873, caused in part by the contraction of the currency, in part by the decline in the demand for the agricultural products which I raise for sale, in part by the inability by the people to buy, etc., etc., and for no other reasons.

Second, I never was a common drunkard, as I look at it, and am not now. I am and have been for years an ardent and enthusiastic temperance man, though opposed to prohibition by law, by any force or other choker. The time has not come for this. It is a fact that I once, years ago, went on a spree; and this I now deeply regret. It however is in the past, and let a good life in the future bury the past. I have not fallen, I have risen, and all good men and women will applaud the deed, always excepting a small, little, bitter Christian like the Right Rev. pastor and liar of this city, to whom I can trace some of the above charges. In my case this minister was an eager, itching libeler, and what he said of me is false—nay, a willful lie.

Third, I never was a traitor or untrue to my clients or their interests. I never left them during the progress of a trial or at other times for the cause alleged, drunkenness. I may have crept—slid—out of a case during the trial because I had no faith in it, leaving Mr. Lincoln, who had faith in it, to run it through. My want of faith in a case would have been discovered by the jury and that discovery would have damaged my client and to save my client I dodged. This is all there is on it, and let men make the most of it.

Now, let me ask a question. Why is all this libeling of me? I am a mere private citizen, hold no office, do not beg the people to give me one often. My religious ideas, views, and philosophy are today, here, unpopular. But wait, I will not deny my ideas, views, or philosophy for office or station or the applause of the unthinking multitude. I can, however, answer the above question. It, the libeling, is done because I did assert and affirm by oral language and by print that Mr. Lincoln was an infidel, sometimes bordering on atheism, and yet he was among the best, greatest, and noblest of mankind; he was a grand man. Why do not the Christians prove that Mr. Lincoln was an evangelical Christian and thus prove me a liar? One of my friends, for whom I have great respect, says, that "Mr. Lincoln was a rational Christian because he believed in morality." Why not say Lincoln was rational Buddhist, as Buddhism teaches morality? Why not say Lincoln was rational Mohammedan? By the way, let me say here, that I have a profound respect for an earnest, manly, and sincere Christian or an Atheist, a profound respect for an earnest, manly, and sincere Infidel or theist or any other religion, or the men who hold it, when that belief is woven into a great manly character to beautify and greaten the world.

These charges, and I do not know how many more, nor of what kind, have been scattered broadcast all over the land, and have gone into every house, have been read at every fireside till the good people believe them, believe that I am nearly as mean as a little Christian, and all because I told the truth and stand firm in my conviction. Respectfully,

W. H. Herndon.

November 9, 1882.

[Privately printed by H. E. Barker, Springfield, 1917, edition limited to 75 copies.]

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APPENDIX VI

THE IRWIN ARTICLE WITH LETTERS CONCERNING
LINCOLN'S RELIGIOUS BELIEF

Another Valuable Contribution to the History of the Martyr
President.—Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel?—A Painstaking
Examination of the Case by An Old Acquaintance.—Important
Testimony of Contemporaneous Witnesses.—History
of the Famous Manuscript of 1833.—Mentor Graham
Says It Was a Defence of Christianity.—The Burned Manuscript
Quite a Different Affair.—The Charge of Infidelity in
1848, Said to Have Been Disproved at the Time.—Letter of
Hon. Wm. Reid, U. S. Consul at Dundee, Scotland.

By B. F. Irwin

Pleasant Plains, Ill., April 20, 1874.

Editor State Journal: For some time, I believe, in 1870 there has been a constant and continued effort upon the part of the Hon. W. H. Herndon, Springfield, Ill., to convince and prove to the world that Abraham Lincoln lived and died an infidel. He has succeded, as I suppose, in proving that proposition to his own entire satisfaction and probably to the satisfaction of some others. The last effort I have noticed upon the subject was Herndon's reply to the Rev. J. A. Reed, in a lecture delivered in the court house in Springfield, some months ago. A few days after that lecture was delivered, I was urgently requested by a prominent minister of the gospel and friend of Lincoln's (and also a lady friend now residing in Kansas) to review that speech. I promised each of those persons I would do so at the proper time. That time has now arrived, and I propose noticing a few points in the address of Mr. Herndon,

"THE RELIGION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN"

also a point or two in his Abbott letter and I think I will be able to show that Mr. Herndon, himself, never knew or understood really what the faith of Lincoln was or what the

RELIGIOUS BELIEF OF LINCOLN

was. I wish it now and here understood that Mr. Herndon's candor or veracity I do not call in question. Nor will I designedly say anything to offend him. He and I have been for twenty-five years good personal friends, and I hope that friendship may continue. Mr. Herndon has a right to prove Mr. Lincoln an infidel if he can. I claim the same right to prove that

LINCOLN WAS NOT AN INFIDEL

if I can. If Mr. Lincoln was an infidel, as Herndon says, it is proper for the world to know it. If he was not an infidel the charge is wrong and a slander, for infidelity in the nineteenth century is no honor to any man, dead or alive.

Mr. Herndon, in his speech, uses this language: "One side of this question can be proved. It is admitted on all hands that Lincoln once was an infidel; that he wrote a small book, or essay, or pamphlet against Christianity, and that he (Lincoln) continued an unbeliever until late in life." Herndon further says: "It is a rule of law, as well as a rule of common sense, that when a certain state or condition of affairs is once proved to exist, the presumption is, that it still exists until the contrary is proved." Now I stand by that proposition as a true one. Will Mr. Herndon do so? But

HE IS WOEFULLY MISTAKEN

in his statement that "all admit that Lincoln was once an infidel." I have never yet heard one single man express the belief that Lincoln was an infidel, either early or late in life, while I am confident I have heard one hundred different persons express astonishment at Mr. Herndon writing and publishing Lincoln to the world an infidel. Mr. Herndon, it is true, did have opportunities and advantages over others in knowing Mr. Lincoln's religious opinions. But other men had some opportunities as well as Mr. Herndon, and to them I shall have to appeal, for I do not claim to personally know anything about Mr. Lincoln's religious faith. Though personally acquainted with Lincoln for twenty-five years, and often in his office, I never heard him say a word on the subject of Christianity or religious belief. Hence, my opinion of Lincoln's faith or belief is based on the testimony of those who do know, who had it

FROM LINCOLN HIMSELF;

and I believe them, for the weight of testimony is certainly against Mr. Herndon. The Scriptures of Truth lay it down as a Divine rule, that the evidence of two or three witnesses is better than one. Common law lays down the same rule, borrowed from Divine authority, and our courts are governed by it in their decisions.

Mr. Herndon, in his

REPLY TO MR. REED,

says, "He is talking to establish the truth of a controversy between those who hold that Lincoln was a disbeliever, and those who hold that he died a Christian (a believer in Christ)" and then says: "If I fail to establish my point it will be because of the manner and method of presenting the facts." I have read that lecture carefully over, and I fail to find any proof of Herndon's proposition that Lincoln ever was an infidel or an unbeliever. The nearest I see to it, is the

STATEMENT OF J. H. MATHENY

He uses this language, substantially: "Mr. Lincoln's earlier life is his whole life and history in Illinois up to the time he left for Washington City. He (Lincoln) was, as I understand it, a confirmed infidel." Now, Matheny fails to tell us how he got that understanding. Did he get it from Lincoln? He don't say so, and the reason he don't say so doubtless is, he got it from some other source—probably from Herndon. But clearly, to be of any weight as evidence, he must have that understanding from Mr. Lincoln himself. Mr. Matheny may have some time in life heard Lincoln use some of the

ARGUMENTS OF TOM PAINE,

or advance infidel ideas, and still not be an infidel. I have heard an official member of the Methodist Church in this town advance as strong infidel sentiments as Tom Paine ever did, and you would insult the man to say he was an infidel. So any Christian may use the language or advance some of the sentiments of Tom Paine and be far from an infidel. Lincoln may have done all that, and still not be an infidel. I do not believe Mr. Lincoln ever was an infidel, and I can truly state and say just what Matheny said. I understood Lincoln was an infidel, but I never believed the statement true. Matheny understood it: in other words, he had heard it but knew nothing about the facts in the case. I have seen Mr. Matheny since, and he states that he

NEVER HAD IT FROM LINCOLN

that he was an infidel, and he never believed it.

If Mr. Herndon is in possession of the evidence, in writing or otherwise, to prove that Lincoln was an infidel, either earlier or later in life, he ought to bring forward the proof to sustain his proposition: for he has long since learned that the statement alone fails to satisfy the public mind that Lincoln ever was an infidel. Mr. Herndon in his

ABBOTT LETTER

truly says the charge of infidelity was made against Mr. Lincoln when he was a candidate for Congress in 1848; and then adds: "Mr. Lincoln did not deny the charge, because it was true." The charge of infidelity was made against Lincoln at that time, and I suppose Lincoln made no public denial of the charge, for the reason that the canvass was being made on political grounds, and not religious faith or belief. This much was said at the time, as I well remember to be the facts in the case.

About the time of building the flatboat on the Sangamon River in 1830, when Lincoln was quite a young man, a

RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY

was the topic in which Lincoln took a part; and in the argument Lincoln used the language that, according to the history of the case, in the New Testament, Christ was a bastard and his mother a base woman. This he may have used at the time, as young men sometimes do use vain language, and seventeen years afterward, when he was a candidate for Congress against

PETER CARTWRIGHT

a Methodist preacher, that vain remark was remembered, and Tom Paine having used similar language, Lincoln was published in some of the papers as an infidel. The above was the explanation published at the time, and the charge of infidelity did no harm. Had Lincoln been known as an infidel, or believed to be one at that time, I am certain he would have been beaten badly by Cartwright in the canvass.

Again, Mr. Herndon, in his Abbott letter (I believe it is), says: "It is not to be found in print that Lincoln ever used the word Christ." In fact, Herndon says, "he never did use it, only to deny Christ as the son of God." Now that statement may be true, that he did not use the term Christ: but if Mr. Herndon will examine the speeches of the public men of this nation, I believe I am safe in saying that Mr. Lincoln used and

QUOTED MORE SCRIPTURE

than any man in the nation; and that he quoted the parables and language of Christ oftener than any public man living. Not only did Lincoln quote Scripture, but he used it as being of Divine authority, and applicable to the affairs of earth. Mr. Herndon gives us to understand that Lincoln did not believe the New Testament Scriptures to be any more inspired than Homer's songs, Milton's "Paradise Lost," or Shakspeare. If Herndon is correct, it seems strange Lincoln made no use of those books. On the 16th of January, 1858,[74] as a foundation for an argument, he used the language of Christ

"A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND,"

in reply to Douglas. In the same campaign he four times used the parables of Christ; in his second inaugural address—"woe unto the world because of its offenses"—Christ's language, again.

But I need not multiply quotations. His speeches, proclamations, and messages are so full of quotations of scripture, always the language of Christ himself, that if an angel of light should proclaim it trumpet-tongued from the skies, that Lincoln was an unbeliever in Christ, I could not believe it. He could not have been an infidel without being a base hypocrite; and I don't believe a more honest man lived on earth.

THE EVIDENCE

Now I will take up some evidence on the question being discussed. Mr. Herndon has said that, in Lincoln's early life, he wrote

A PAMPHLET

book, or manuscript against Christianity. I propose to show that the manuscript written by Lincoln was

IN FAVOR OF CHRISTIANITY

To do so, I will offer the evidence of Mr. Graham, who knew Lincoln when he was a boy in Kentucky, with whom Lincoln boarded some two years; and if any man on earth ought to know Lincoln's religious faith or belief, that man is Mentor Graham, who was intimate with Lincoln from the time he came to Illinois to the time he left for Washington City. I will give the letter in full.

STATEMENT OF MR. GRAHAM

Petersburg, Ill., March 17, 1874.

B. F. Irwin:

Sir—In reply to your inquiries, Abraham Lincoln was living at my house in New Salem, going to school, studying English grammar and surveying, in the year 1833. One morning he said to me, "Graham, what do you think about the anger of the Lord?" I replied, "I believe the Lord never was angry or mad and never would be; that His loving kindness endurest forever; that He never changes." Said Lincoln, "I have a little manuscript written, which I will show you"; and stated he thought of having it published. Offering it to me, he said he had never showed it to anyone, and still thought of having it published. The size of the manuscript was about one-half quire of foolscap, written in a very plain hand, on the subject of Christianity and a defense of universal salvation. The commencement of it was something respecting the God of the universe never being excited, mad, or angry. I had the manuscript in my possession some week or ten days. I have read many books on the subject of theology and I don't think in point of perspicuity and plainness of reasoning, I ever read one to surpass it. I remember well his argument. He took the passage, "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," and followed up with the proposition that whatever the breach or injury of Adam's transgressions to the human race was, which no doubt was very great, was made just and right by the atonement of Christ.

As to Major Hill burning the manuscript, I don't believe he did, nor do I think he would have done such a thing. About the burning of a paper by Hill, I have some recollection of his snatching a letter from Lincoln and putting it into the fire. It was a letter written by Hill to McNamur. His real name was McNeal. Some of the school children had picked up the letter and handed it to Lincoln. Hill and Lincoln were talking about it, when Hill snatched the letter from Lincoln and put it into the fire. The letter was respecting a young lady, Miss Ann Rutledge, for whom all three of these gentlemen seemed to have respect. Yours truly,

Mentor Graham.

Now the next point I wish to notice is Mr. Herndon's statement, in his Abbott letter, that Lincoln, in 1846, was charged with being an infidel. Herndon says he [Lincoln] did not deny the charge, because it was true. As I have before stated, I admit the charge was made, and I think at the time there was no public denial by Lincoln, for the reason that the canvass was made on political grounds, and not religious faith or belief. Nevertheless, the charge was denied, as the following letter will show.

STATEMENT OF THOMAS MOSTILLER

Pleasant Plains, Ill., April 28, 1874.

B. F. Irwin:

Sir—In regard to your inquiry, just received, of what I heard Lincoln say about a charge of infidelity made against him when a candidate for Congress in 1847, or '48, it was this. I was present and heard Josiah Grady ask Lincoln a question or two regarding a charge made against Lincoln of being an infidel, and Lincoln unqualifiedly denied the charge of infidelity, and said, in addition, his parents were Baptists, and brought him up in the belief of the Christian religion; and he believed in the Christian religion as much as anyone, but was sorry to say he had or made no pretensions to religion himself. I can't give his exact words, but would make oath anywhere that he positively denied the charge made against him of infidelity. That was the first time I ever heard of the charge of infidelity against Lincoln.

Grady did not say that he would not vote for Lincoln if he was an infidel; but my understanding from Grady was, that he would not vote for Lincoln if he was an infidel, and Grady did, as I suppose, vote for him. I understood him that he should.

Respectfully,

Thomas Mostiller.

Menard County, Ill.

The next evidence I shall offer is that of Isaac Cogdal, an intimate friend of Lincoln's from the time Lincoln came to Salem, Menard County, to the time he left for Washington City, and I will let Cogdal speak for himself.

STATEMENT OF ISAAC COGDAL

April 10, 1874.

B. F. Irwin: Yours received making inquiries about what I heard Lincoln say about his religious belief, is this, as near as I can tell it and recollect. I think it was in 1859, I was in Lincoln's office in Springfield, and I had a curiosity to know his opinions or belief religiously; and I called on him for his faith in the presence of W. H. Herndon. At least Herndon was in the office at the time. Lincoln expressed himself in about these words: He did not nor could not believe in the endless punishment of any one of the human race. He understood punishment for sin to be a Bible doctrine; that the punishment was parental in its object, aim, and design, and intended for the good of the offender; hence it must cease when justice is satisfied. He added that all that was lost by the transgression of Adam was made good by the atonement: all that was lost by the fall was made good by the sacrifice, and he added this remark, that punishment being a "provision of the gospel system, he was not sure but the world would be better off if a little more punishment was preached by our ministers, and not so much pardon of sin." I then, in reply, told Mr. Lincoln he was a sound Universalist, and would advise him to say but little about his belief, as it was an unpopular doctrine, though I fully agreed with him in sentiment. Lincoln replied that he never took any part in the argument or discussion of theological questions. Much more was said, but the above are the ideas as advanced by Lincoln there.

Respectfully yours,
Isaac Cogdal.

The next witness I shall offer on the subject is Jonathan Harnett, of Pleasant Plains. Mr. Harnett is here. I shall now furnish a statement over his signature, as he is present and dictates as I write.

DICTATED STATEMENT OF JONATHAN HARNETT

Mr. Harnett says, that in 1858, a short time after he came to Illinois, he had a curiosity to see Lincoln and went into his office. There were several others in that he did not know; that religious faith seemed to be the subject of conversation. After some time was spent in the controversy, it seemed to be Lincoln's time, and in a few words he heard Lincoln condense into a small space greater thoughts and larger ideas, and sounder logic, than he ever heard brought into so small space. Lincoln, he says, covered more ground in a few words than he could in a week, and closed up with the restitution of all things to God, as the doctrine taught in the scriptures, and if anyone was left in doubt in regard to his belief in the atonement of Christ and the final salvation of all men, he removed those doubts in a few questions he answered and propounded to others. After expressing himself, some one or two took exceptions to his position, and he asked a few questions that cornered his interrogators and left no room to doubt or question his soundness on the atonement of Christ, and salvation finally of all men. He did not pretend to know just when that event would be consummated, but that it would be the ultimate result, that Christ must reign supreme, high over all, The Saviour of all; and the supreme Ruler, he could not be with one out of the fold; all must come in, with his understanding of the doctrine taught in the scriptures.

[The above statement since writing it has been read to Mr. Harnett and indorsed by him.]

The next evidence I shall offer is Erasmus Manford, of Chicago. About 1850, he had a debate in Springfield, Ill., with Mr. Lewis. In his book, "Twenty-five Years in the West," page 219, he says: "I remember well seeing Mr. Lincoln then punctually every day and night. He often nodded his head to me when I made a strong point." Does that look as though Lincoln was an infidel? Manford was discussing the proposition of the restitution of all things to God which is manifested in Christ Jesus our Lord. Manford gives the quotation, chapter, and verse, and Lincoln nods assent to the position. That nodding assent to the restitution agrees precisely with Mr. Harnett's statement of Lincoln's position in his presence seven or eight years afterward. Everyone understands that nodding assent to the argument of a speaker is an indorsement of what is said, and about equivalent to speaking it yourself. Manford so understood it: so anyone would understand it.

My next and last witness is W. H. Herndon. In his Abbott lecture in 1870, Herndon says that Lincoln's belief was, that

ALL WOULD BE SAVED,

or none. That remark he frequently or often made; that agrees with Harnett's statement that he believed all would be saved. When a man believes all men will be saved, he can then be logical and say all will be saved or none, and not otherwise. In the same letter, Mr. Herndon says Mr. Lincoln held that God had a fixed punishment for sin and no means could bribe him to remit that punishment. That evidence agrees with Cogdal's statement that sin was to be punished, but not endlessly. Both Herndon and Cogdal agree in the statement that Lincoln believed that if our ministers would preach punishment and not so much pardon the world would be benefited by it.

I am now through with the evidence I shall offer at this time, though I could add the evidence of a dozen more to the same purport. I think I have clearly proved that

LINCOLN WAS A UNIVERSALIST

in 1833; that he wrote a manuscript on that subject then; that in 1847 he

DENIED THE CHARGE

of infidelity; that in 1850-58-59 he was still a Universalist. If this be true when was he an infidel? But to get a clear understanding of the case, Universalism and infidelity are as far apart as the poles. Universalism maintains that there is one God, whose nature is love revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ. This Lincoln certainly believed, infidelity denies it. Universalism maintains that Christ was the Son of God; infidelity denies it. Universalism maintains that the Old and New Testament Scriptures contain a record of God's revelation to man; infidelity denies it, and says the New Testament is no more inspired than Homer's songs, Milton's "Paradise Lost," or Shakspeare. My authority for the infidel view is W. H. Herndon, in his letter.

Before closing, I wish it distinctly understood that if I could show that

LINCOLN WAS NOT AN INFIDEL

without showing him a Universalist, I would do so; that I am not trying to bolster up Universalism on Lincoln's faith, as I do not claim to be a Universalist myself.

There are many points in Mr. Herndon's lecture and letter that I might notice, but as I am only trying to show that

HERNDON IS WRONG

in his understanding of Lincoln's religious belief, I shall not notice them, as they do not concern me or the question in dispute.

Mr. Herndon, in his lecture and letter both, says Mr. Lincoln wrote a manuscript against Christianity. Mr. Graham,

LINCOLN'S TEACHER

at the time, testifies that he had the manuscript in his possession eight to ten days, read it two or three times carefully and it was in favor of Christianity and universal salvation. Mr. Mostiller says Lincoln flatly denied infidelity in 1847, and he would swear to it. Mr. Harnett heard Lincoln on the atonement in 1858. Mr. Cogdal testifies to the same in 1859. The character of all these men for truth and veracity is as good as any man in Sangamon or Menard County. Harnett and Mostiller are both Methodists, differing politically. Graham and Cogdal are both Universalists, and agree politically. Mr. Herndon in his letter says the manuscript was burned by Sam Hill. Mr. Graham explains it was a letter in regard to a lady,

MISS ANN RUTLEDGE,

that Hill burned. It seems to me Mr. Herndon has got the manuscript and letter confounded, and shot off hand without taking aim at the right object. My friend Herndon, at the close of his lecture, derives consolation from the fact that a true history can be written free from the fear of fire and stake. Friend Herndon, if your life is certainly not in danger some true spirit will

DRAG THE TRUTH

out to the light of day.

But hear the closing words of Herndon's lecture; "Now let it be written in history and on Mr. Lincoln's tomb he died an unbeliever." Mr. Herndon is in a hurry about it. Be patient, William; wait for the unfolding of events. The decree has long since gone out; those words will never be inscribed on

LINCOLN'S TOMB,

nor written in history. When my friend, W. H. Herndon, dies, if he wishes a monument on a small scale placed over his grave with the inscription, "Here lies W. H. Herndon, a man who in life held that the New Testament Scriptures were no more inspired than Homer's songs, Milton's Paradise Lost, or Shakspeare," or if he desires it, add "Munchausen's Travels," I will not, for one, object to the inscription. As regards Mr. Herndon's own belief, he leaves no room for doubt.

B. F. Irwin.

From the Illinois State Journal, Saturday Morning, May 15, 1874.

MORE TESTIMONY

Letter from the Hon. Wm. Reid, U. S. Consul at Dundee, Scotland. (Dundee, Scotland, Correspondence [March 4, 1874] Portland [Oregon] Oregonian).

The Weekly Oregonian of January last arrived and I am grieved to see in it opened afresh that controversy over Lincoln's religious views. Being well conversant with the affairs of the Lincoln family, knowing Mrs. Lincoln personally, having been in correspondence with that lady, and having also been of some assistance in a work entitled "Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln," I may be permitted to speak with some knowledge of the facts.

Lincoln, when 16 years of age,

IN THE BACKWOODS OF WESTERN INDIANA

heard a sermon by a traveling Presbyterian minister—the Rev. Dr. Smith—(afterwards of the First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, Illinois) then a minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The subject was: "Is there no Balm in Gilead? Is there no Physician there?" The sermon was delivered at the village of Rockfort, four miles from the small farm of Thomas Lincoln, Abraham's father. There was a great revival on that occasion. Always a deep thinker, even when a boy, Lincoln was seriously impressed. Adopting his own words, he remembered the sermon for more than twenty years afterwards. Book after book he then read on the authenticity of the Scriptures, and was satisfied. Many years after delivering that sermon Dr. Smith removed to Springfield, Illinois.

This same Dr. Smith, I spent two years with here at Dundee, and attended him to his death in 1871. He was the bosom friend of Lincoln, and the friend and dearly beloved pastor of the Lincoln family.

Some years after Dr. Smith happened on a Sabbath day, in his church at Springfield, to re-deliver his sermon (delivered, I think, eighteen years previous). "Is there no Balm in Gilead? Is there no Physician there?" Lincoln, always a regular attendant, was there and was much startled. When the congregation had gone, he sought the preacher. "Dr. Smith," said he, "was it you who preached that sermon when I was a boy at Rockfort?" "Yes." "Well," said Mr. Lincoln, "I have never forgotten that sermon, and never will." I need not narrate what then passed between them. Sometime after this a discussion arose in Springfield, as to the credibility of the Scripture. Knowing Lincoln's well-balanced mind, his studious and deep-thinking nature and downright honesty, a gentleman, anxious to have his views, asked if he believed the Scriptures were strictly true. Lincoln answered: "I have investigated that matter thoroughly, as a lawyer would do, examining testimony, and I hold that the arguments in favor of the credibility, inspiration, and Divine authority of the Scripture are unanswerable."

At an annual meeting of the Presbyterian Church of Springfield, or rather of the Bible Society of that church, Lincoln delivered a long address on the same subject—the authenticity of the Scriptures. An able address it was. His arguments are too lengthy for me to narrate. For seven years, down to the day of his departure for Washington to

ASSUME THE DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENCY,

he was a member of that congregation, and took part and aided in all benevolent undertakings in connection with the church. Were I allowed to unfold to the public what is sacred, that which I know of Mr. Lincoln's inner life during the four years he was President, his memory would be revered by all Christians for his entire dependence during that eventful period upon God's guidance, and not on himself. Truly no man thought less of himself and of his nothingness without God. This is exemplified in his public life. When assuming the Presidency, what did he say? Speaking of the contrast of his time to Washington's:

"I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine Aid which sustained him [Washington], and on the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support. And I hope that you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that Divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain."

If an infidel, then is it possible that Abraham Lincoln could be an honest man as the world knows he was—and make that assertion? Is it necessary for me to say more? If so, let me remind you of his words

(1) To that zealous

LADY OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMISSION

during the war, in answer to her views of religion:

If what you have told me is really a correct view, I think I can say with sincerity that I hope I am a Christian.

(2) To the Philadelphia Church Conference in 1864: Allow me to attest, in response to your address, the accuracy of its historical statements; indorse the sentiments it expresses, and thank you in the Nation's name for the sure promise it gives. God bless the Methodist Church, God bless all the churches, and blessed be God who giveth us, in this our great trial, churches!

(3) To the Cabinet on the emancipation of the slaves:

"I made a solemn vow before God that if General Lee were driven from Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by declaring freedom to the slaves."

(4) On the same subject [slavery] remember he said: "Whatever appears to be God's will, I will do."

ONE MORE FINAL PUBLIC ACT

and I am done. At Baltimore he was presented by the negroes of that city with a copy of the Scriptures. In reply, Lincoln said:

"In regard to the great Book, I have only to say, it is the best gift which God has given to man. All the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated to us through this Book. But for that Book we could not know right from wrong. All those things desirable to man are contained in it."

It may appear unnecessary for me to repeat Lincoln's

PUBLIC EXPRESSIONS OF RELIGION

in conjunction with what I have issued to the world for the first time, as to his religious life in private before he was President, but as my object is to connect his private and public religious expressions together, and bring them down from the time he was sixteen years old to his death, and to show that he was, for these thirty years,

UNIFORMLY A CHRISTIAN MAN,

you will pardon my repeating in part what the whole world already knows. Take Lincoln's expressions altogether as above quoted by me, and I submit you will find not only an absence of the slightest doubt of religion on his part, but an entire reliance on God alone for guiding himself and the events of the world. And yet that foolish man, Herndon, will say—and I am sorry to see a small portion of the American press will repeat—that Abraham Lincoln was an Infidel. Marvelous! I am proud to think I have in my possession—as a reward for a few insignificant services done by me on account of Mrs. Lincoln—the great and Martyred President's psalm book, which he used while at the White House, and I shall retain it as a proud memento for my family, of "Lincoln the Good—the Saviour of his Country."

A word before I close, as to Mrs. Lincoln. She is a lady of great merit, and spite of Herndon's mad expression to the contrary, was dearly loved by the President, as his letters to her will show, and one does not wonder at it, as her love and regard for him to this day is even greater than tongue can tell. If the American people understood Mrs. Lincoln as well as I do, they would respect her equally as they did Lincoln.

Yours truly,
William Reed,
United States Consul, Dundee, Scotland.

From the Illinois State Journal, Saturday Morning, May 15, 1874.

WHY LINCOLN APPOINTED HIM

Reading (Pa.) News

The Rev. James Shrigley who is well known here, was appointed by President Lincoln a hospital Chaplain during the war. Pending his confirmation by the United States, a self-constituted committee of the Young Men's Christian Association called on the President to protest against the appointment. After Mr. Shrigley's name had been mentioned the President said: "Oh, yes, I have sent it to the Senate. His testimonials are highly satisfactory, and the appointment will, no doubt, be confirmed at an early day."

The young men replied: "But, sir, we have come not to ask the appointment, but to solicit you to withdraw the nomination, on the ground that Mr. Shrigley is not evangelical in his sentiments." "Ah!" said the President, "that alters the case. On what point of doctrine is the gentleman unsound?" "He does not believe in endless punishment," was the reply. "Yes," added another of the committee, "he believes that even the rebels themselves will finally be saved, and it will never do to have a man with such views a hospital Chaplain."

The President hesitated to reply for a moment, and then responded with an emphasis they will long remember: "If that be so, gentlemen, and there be any way under heaven whereby the rebels can be saved, then for God's sake let the man be appointed!"

He was appointed.

From the Daily Illinois State Register, Friday, April 29, 1881.

---

APPENDIX VII

"THE CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE"

The debate out of which this volume grew was held at Columbus, Mississippi, in the spring of 1841, between Rev. James Smith and Mr. C. G. Olmsted. Mr. Olmsted, the author of a work entitled, "The Bible Its Own Refutation," was a resident of Columbus. Dr. Smith visited this city during the winter of 1839-1840, and finding the young men of the place to be very largely under the influence of Mr. Olmsted, he delivered a series of lectures, especially addressed to the young men of the place, on "The Natures and Tendencies of Infidelity," and another upon, "The Evidences of Christianity." While these lectures were in progress, Dr. Smith was approached by a committee, who sympathized with Mr. Olmsted's views, and who, with the sanction of Mr. Olmsted, brought a written challenge to Dr. Smith to meet Mr. Olmsted in a public discussion of the whole ground at issue between them. Dr. Smith accepted on condition that he have time for adequate preparation. He communicated with friends in Great Britain, who procured and sent to him the latest and best material bearing on the subject. His book contains reproductions of the supposed Zodiac at Denderah, and a colored reproduction from the monuments of Egypt of brickmakers, believed to be Israelites. The researches of Rawlinson were made available to him, and a considerable body of additional literature.

Because Dr. Smith's book has been spoken of slightingly by men who never saw it and who had the vaguest possible notion of its content, and because the book itself is so excessively rare that in the nature of the case few readers of this volume can have access to it, I have copied the Title Page, a portion of the advertisement, and the whole of the very full Table of Contents.

We need not concern ourselves with the question whether Dr. Smith's line of argument is that which probably would be found most cogent if a similar debate were to be held at the present day. Sources of information are now available, of which neither Dr. Smith nor his opponent could possibly have had any knowledge. But any reader of this chapter analysis will be compelled to testify that a book which covered the ground of this outline and did it with logical acumen and force of reasoning, is not to be spoken of now in terms other than those of admiration for the industry and earnestness of the author, and the cogency of the conclusions which he deduced from his premises. One is prepared to believe from the testimony included in a number of letters that are reprinted in the advertisement and in the preface that these lectures produced a profound impression upon those who heard this discussion.

The more carefully these lectures are examined, the more probable does it appear that in form and method they would have been likely to make, what they appear to have made, a very strong impression upon Abraham Lincoln. It must have been evident to him that Dr. Smith was familiar with both sides of the question, and Lincoln can but have admired the courage and ardor with which he went into a discussion so fully in keeping with methods which Abraham Lincoln himself enjoyed and which later he employed in his great debate with Douglas. We can well believe that he spoke with the utmost sincerity when he told Dr. Smith that he counted the argument unanswerable, and stated to his brother-in-law, Hon. Ninian W. Edwards, and his associate at the bar, Mr. Thomas Lewis, that these lectures had modified his own opinion.

NOTICES OF THE DEBATE WHICH LED TO THE
PUBLISHING OF THE CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE

From the Southwestern Christian Advocate, Columbus,
Miss., 1841

Mr. Editor—I have thought that a concise account of this debate might not be unacceptable to your readers. It is a mortifying fact, that this city has become FAMOUS—or rather INFAMOUS for the prevalence of deism and atheism among her citizens. This has been produced in a good degree by the efforts of an old gentleman by the name Olmsted. Since his residence here, which has been for about four years, he has been untiring in his exertions to sow the seeds of moral death in this community. He has organized his converts into a band, that operates systematically. He has written a book, which is not exceeded by Tom Paine's Age of Reason, for scurrility and ridicule. The old gentleman is as artful as the old DESTROYER himself; by which means he has obtained an immense influence over the minds of the young men of this place.

The circumstances which gave rise to the debate were as follows: The Rev. James Smith, during a visit in this city, delivered a few discourses on the dangerous tendencies of infidelity, addressing himself particularly to the youth. This induced a committee of infidel gentlemen to address a written challenge to Mr. S., to meet their champion, Mr. O., in a public debate. Mr. S. by the advice of many intelligent friends of truth, accepted the challenge. The time arrived, and the discussion commenced. All was anxiety and interest. The house was crowded, even the aisles and windows, with attentive hearers. They arranged to speak alternately, one, two hours each night, and the other a half hour; so the debate continued two hours and a half each night. From the representation of Mr. O's talents, learning, and preparation, we were made to tremble for the results; but we were not a little disappointed to find the old gentleman fall far below his fame....

He asserted that the Jews did not believe in a future state of existence, until after the Babylonish captivity; that they borrowed their doctrines of the immortality of the soul from the nations among whom they were dispersed—that the Jews believed in a plurality of gods—that St. Paul was the author of Christianity—that Christianity encourages polygamy. To prove this last position, he quoted Paul's directions to Timothy: "Let a bishop be the husband of one wife." And to crown the mass of absurdities, he endeavored to prove that the blessed Jesus was a base impostor.

We found Mr. Smith well prepared for the contest. He had his arguments systematically arranged—had written them all, and read them well. He proved to a demonstration, the GENUINENESS, AUTHENTICITY and INSPIRATION of the Old Testament Scriptures. His arguments were interesting and convincing. His arguments on the New Testament were equally happy, and if possible, more convincing. The conclusion of every inquirer after truth, must have been, that the champion of deism was signally defeated, and his cause left bleeding on the field. I doubt not but the defeat would have been more complete, had Mr. S. omitted some of his personal allusions, and had he suppressed his natural inclination to sarcasm. Indeed his blasts of sarcasm were truly WITHERING. His opponent, finding that he could not cope with him in this respect, retreated, and took shelter under the sympathies of his audience.

Yours, &c.,
One of the Hearers.

---

THE

CHRISTIAN'S DEFENCE

CONTAINING
A FAIR STATEMENT AND IMPARTIAL EXAMINATION
OF THE
LEADING OBJECTIONS URGED BY INFIDELS
AGAINST THE
ANTIQUITY, GENUINENESS, CREDIBILITY AND
INSPIRATION
OF THE
HOLY SCRIPTURES;
ENRICHED WITH COPIOUS EXTRACTS FROM
LEARNED AUTHORS.

By JAMES SMITH.

"The Christian Faith,
Unlike the tim'rous creeds of pagan priests,
Is frank, stands forth to view, inviting all
To prove, examine, search, investigate;
And gave herself a light to see her by."
—Pollock's Course of Time, B. iv.

"If I have done well, and as is fitting the story, it is
that which I desired; but if slenderly and meanly, it
is that which I could attain unto."—2 Maccabees xv, 38.

TWO VOLUMES IN ONE

CINCINNATI:

STEREOTYPED AND PUBLISHED BY J. A. JAMES

1843

---

CONTENTS

VOLUME I

On the Credibility, Antiquity, and Genuineness of
the Old Testament Scriptures

CHAPTER I
The nations of the earth are indebted to the Jews for theBible.—Taylor's assertion, that no such nation as the Jewishever existed. Its confutation. The Jews and Christianshold the Old Testament to be a revelation from God.Infidels hold this to be untrue. How the question at issueis to be settled. The frame of mind necessary to an impartialexamination of the subject.—Objections of theAtheistical Infidel against the claims of the Bible as adivine revelation. Mr. Olmsted's misrepresentation of theposition of the advocates of Revelation. The questions atissue between the Christian and Atheist. That betweenthe Christian and the Deist	1
Section I.—Confutation of the theory of the materialist.Confutations of the positions of the two classes ofAtheists	6
Section II.—Hume's argument to prove that Polytheismwas the first religion of mankind. Its confutation	23
Section III.—Of the style of the Old Testament Scriptures.Example from Mr. Olmsted, showing the necessityof understanding its nature. The Scriptures speak the languageof appearances, but strictly philosophical	40
CHAPTER II
Mr. Olmsted's assertion concerning the requisitions of the advocateof Revelation in examining the credibility of theMosaic writings. Its falsehood. His allegation that thefirst sentence in the Bible contains a falsehood. The confutationof his argument. His objection to the credibilityof the Mosaic narrative of the creation founded on thestatement that the world was made in six days. Vindicationof the Mosaic narrative.—Infidel objection to theMosaic narrative founded on the zodiacs in the temples ofLatapolis and Tantyra. Its fallacy.—Dr. Keith's proofsof the truthfulness of the Mosaic narrative of the creation	48
Section I.—Mosaic account of the creation confirmedby tradition. The Hindoo account; that of Ovid; thePhenician; the Egyptian; that of Plato.—The heathentradition concerning the first man. Division of time intoweeks, a confirmation of the Mosaic narrative	75
Section II.—Paine's and Olmsted's objection on accountof the narrative of the fall of man. Their confutation.The Mosaic narrative of the fall of man confirmedby heathen traditions; by the universality of serpent worship;by the condition of mankind; by the opinions of theheathen philosophers concerning the corruption of humannature; by the belief of the Brahmins; by the opinions ofthe classical mythologists, and by the universal practice ofanimal sacrifice.—The account of the translation of Enochconfirmed by the Grecian fables.—The longevity of theantediluvian patriarchs confirmed by heathen traditions.—Mosaicaccount of man of gigantic stature confirmed bythe Greek and Latin poets	85
CHAPTER III
Objection to the Mosaic narrative of the deluge, because contraryto the philosophy of Nature. Its fallacy.—The truthof the narrative confirmed by the fossil remains of animals.—Objection founded on the size of the ark. Shownto be fallacious.—Objection founded on certain marks ofantiquity said to exist in the lava of Mt. Etna. Mr.Horne's confutation of the argument.—Objection on accountof the differences in color, existing among mankind.Its fallacy. Dr. Good's argument, confirmatory of theMosaic narrative.—Objections founded upon the supposedantiquity of the eastern nations. Confutation of the objection.—Objections founded on the condition of Americawhen discovered by Columbus. Proofs that two distinctraces of men immigrated into America from Asia. Thepresent Indians, of the same race with the tribes ofnorthern Asia. The ancient Mexicans and Peruvians,originally proceeded from the same stock with the nationsof southern Asia	100
Section I.—Mosaic account of the deluge confirmed byPagan history. Its memory incorporated with almost everypart of the heathen mythology. Noah claimed by all theheathen nations as their founder, and worshiped by them asa god. Saturn, of the Greeks and Latins, Menu of theHindoos, and Noah identical. The Hindoo account of thedeluge. The Chinese and Grecian accounts. The ark mentionedby heathen historians. Plutarch's notice of the dovewhich was sent out of the ark. The heathens carried theirdeities in an ark. Ancient medals commemorative of thedeluge. American traditions of that calamity. Summingup of the argument	125
Section II.—Confirmation of the Mosaic representationof the origin of families and nations. Testimony ofSir W. Jones.—Confirmation of the Mosaic accounts ofthe tower of Babel.—Of the destruction of Sodom andGomorrah. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, known to the ancientheathens. Mr. Olmsted's attempt to invalidate theMosaic account of the condition of the Israelites in Egypt.The confutation of his argument.—His argument to invalidatethe truth of the Mosaic narrative of the exode ofthe Israelites from Egypt and the circumstances attendingit. Vindication of the Mosaic narrative.—Explanation ofthe design of the miraculous interposition in behalf of theIsraelites. The fitness and tendency of each of the plaguesinflicted upon the Egyptians. Confutation of Mr. Olmsted'sallegation that Moses extorted permission for theIsraelites to leave Egypt, by false pretentions. Vindicationof the Mosaic account of the hardening of Pharaoh'sheart. Mr. Olmsted's supposition that the Israelites werea horde of rude barbarians, in behalf of whom there wasno divine interposition. The fallacy and absurdity of hissupposition	135
Section III.—Collateral testimony confirmative of theMosaic account of the exode of the Israelites from Egypt,their sojourn in the wilderness, and settlement in Canaan.Curious discovery confirmatory of the Mosaic narrative.Trogus' account of the origin of the Jews. The account oftheir origin by Apion, an Egyptian writer. Manetho's accountof the shepherds who retreated from Egypt to Judea.Tacitus' account of the origin of the Jews. Artapanus'relation concerning Moses. Janes and Jambres, the Egyptianmagicians, well known to heathen writers. Strabo's accountof Moses. The account of the Heliopolitans concerning thepassage of the Red Sea. A similar tradition by Diodorus.The inhabitants of Corondel to this day preserve the remembranceof the passing of the Red Sea by the Israelites.The names of different places passed by the Israelitesduring their sojourn in the wilderness confirm the Mosaicnarrative. The writer of the Orphic verses speaks ofMoses and the tables of the Laws. Didorus Siculus noticesMoses. Dionysius Longius makes honorable mention ofMoses. Accuracy of the Mosaic narrative of the sojournin the wilderness confirmed by Laborde. The tomb ofAaron on Mount Hor, confirms the truth of the Mosaicnarrative. Summing up of the argument from collateraltestimony. A very conclusive evidence of the truth of theMosaic history quoted from Dr. Keith.—The history of theIsraelites subsequent to the settlement in Canaan corroboratedby profane writers. Curious discovery, illustrativeof the Scriptural account of the war carried on byPharaoh-Necho against the Jews and Babylonians.—Confutationof the objection founded by Infidels upon the supposedsterility of the soil of Palestine. Forcible testimonyto the credibility of the Old Testament Scriptures affordedby the present condition of the Jews	159
CHAPTER IV
Efforts of Infidels to show that the books of the Old Testamentare forgeries of comparative modern date. Theirobjections considered. Curious discovery illustrative of theantiquity and exactness of the Mosaic writings. The utterimpossibility of the books being forgeries proven.—Mr.Olmsted's argument to prove that the book of the law wasforged by Ezra. Confutation of his argument. Proofsthat the law could not have been forged by Daniel nor byany of the captives in Babylon; that it could not have beenforged by Isaiah. A forgery could not have been effectedafter the revolt of the ten tribes. It could not have beenforged by David; nor by Saul: nor by any of the Judgeswho preceded Samuel. The law existed in Joshua's time.Joshua could not have forged the law. The impossibilityof practicing a fraud upon the Israelites during a sojournin the wilderness.—The books of the Pentateuch have internalmarks, which demonstrate that they were writtenby Moses. The book of Genesis included by the Jews inthe book of the law. Evidences of its antiquity and genuineness.—Profane testimony to the genuineness of theMosaic writings. Objection on the ground that althoughMoses wrote a book called the book of the law, we haveno evidence that it was the book now current in his name.The objection considered and answered	193
Section I.—Objection of Infidels against the books ofJudges, Kings, and Chronicles, because they are anonymous.The objection answered.—The objections against the genuinenessof the other books of the Old Testament. In effectanswered in the foregoing arguments.—Mr. Paine's argumentto prove that the Mosaic writings are spurious,founded upon the style. Confutation of his argument. Hisargument founded on the passage "Now the man Moseswas very meek," etc. Its confutation.—His argumentfounded on the statement that Abraham pursued the fourkings unto Dan. Its fallacy.—His argument founded onwhat is said of the descendants of Esau. The argumentconsidered, confuted.—His argument founded on the passage"The children of Israel did eat manna until they cameto a land inhabited," etc. Its fallacy. His argument foundedon what is said concerning Og's bedstead. The argumentconfuted.—The argument founded on the record of thedeath of Moses being contained in the books attributed tohim. The argument confuted.—The evidence adducedestablishes the genuineness and credibility of the books.—Objectionthat Moses must have borrowed the history ofthe creation from the traditions which obtained in his time.Reply to the objection.—The question, Whence did Mosesderive the materials of his history? Answered by Mr.Horne.—Objections on the ground that no dependence is tobe placed in the present text of the Old Testament Scriptures.Its fallacy	227
CHAPTER V
A number of objections necessarily omitted, stated and answered.—Mr.Olmsted's argument to prove that the authorof the book of Genesis was a polytheist. Its confutation.—Hisargument to prove that the author of the book ofGenesis believed God to be a corporeal being. Its confutation.Objections founded on the statements concerningCain. Their fallacy.—Cavil of Infidels at the curse pronouncedby Noah upon Canaan. Its unreasonableness.Objections founded on the cause assigned for the diversityof languages. Vindication of the Scriptural account.—Objectionfounded on the conduct of Lot. Its fallacy.—Objectionfounded on the misconduct of Abraham. Considerationof the objection as applied not merely to Abraham,but also to Jacob and David.—Objection on the ground thatGod is represented as commanding Abraham to sacrificeIsaac. Vindication of the Scriptural account of that affair.—Objection, on the ground that circumcision was firstpracticed by the Egyptians. Its fallacy.—Objectionfounded on the representation given by Moses of the worksof the Egyptian magicians during the plagues in Egypt.Mr. Farmer's satisfactory reply	250
Section I.—Infidels assert that the pillar of cloud andfire is a fiction. The assertion considered and answered.—Theassertion that the Israelites crossed the Red Sea atSuez. Vindication of the Scriptural account. Assertionthat the tremendous scene upon Sinai was a cheat. Itsfallacy. Olmsted's objection founded on the length of timethe Israelites were in the wilderness. Explanation of thedesign of the dealings of Jehovah with the Israelites.Vindication of the dresses, rites, and customs enjoyed bythe ceremonial law. Objection founded on the repeatedapostacies of the Israelites. The objection considered andanswered. The objection founded on the treatment of theMoabites and the Midianites. Considered and answered.—Objection,on the ground that the Israelites were commandedto exterminate the Canaanites. Considered andanswered.—Assertion that the Old Testament Scripturessanction adultery and murder. Its falsehood.—Assertionthat Jehovah kept false prophets, and violated his promises.Mr. Horne's answer.—Objection founded on the speakingof Balaam's ass. Considered and answered. Mr. Paine'sobjection on the ground that the sun is represented asstanding still upon Mt. Gibeon. Vindication of the Scripturalaccount of that miraculous event. Dr. Clarke's verysatisfactory reply to the objection. Objection founded onthe passage, "Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord, andhe brought the shadow ten degrees backward by which ithad gone down on the dial of Ahaz."—Objection foundedon what is said of the Witch of Endor. Considered andanswered	275

VOLUME II

The Genuineness of the New Testament Scriptures

CHAPTER I
The books of the New Testament written by eight Jews.—Whycalled New Testament? Infidels deny the genuinenessof the books.—Hold that the writers were impostors, andthe religion taught in them a fraud practiced upon mankind.The difficulties attending the examination of the claimsof the New Testament to genuineness and credibility.—Howthe subject should be approached.—The denial of thegenuineness of the books of modern dates. Toland chargedwith having betrayed his suspicion that the writings wereforgeries. The suspicion of an anonymous Italian.—Itsabsurdity.—Gibbon acknowledges the genuineness of thewritings.—Volney lays it down as a clear case, that no suchperson as Jesus Christ ever existed. His theory adopted,defended, and extensively circulated by Taylor. His positionsdefined in his manifesto.—His unblushing falsehoodspromptly met and refuted by English Divines. Hithertounanswered in this country.—His first and second propositionstaken up.—How the authorship which has no nameprefixed to it is to be ascertained. The rule applied to theNew Testament	3
Section I.—Marks given by Michaelis by which thespuriousness of a book may be discovered.—How booksanciently found their way to the public. The congregationsbefore whom the original copies of the New Testamentwere read, vouchers of their genuineness.—The ancient adversariesof Christianity admitted the genuineness of thewritings. The testimony of Trypho, the Jew. The testimonyof Celsus. The writings of Celsus against Christianityof great value in enabling the advocate of Revelation,of the present day, to prove that Jesus Christ is theson of God. The testimony of Porphyry. Testimony ofHierocles, the philosopher.—Testimony of the emperorJulian. Testimony of Taylor himself. The quotationsfrom the New Testament by the most virulent enemies ofChristianity of ancient times. Demonstrate the genuinenessof the writings.—The immediate disciples of theapostles acknowledge the genuineness of the books. Theepistles of the Apostolic fathers. Their genuineness unquestionable.These writings prove the genuineness of theNew Testament. The epistles of Barnabas written shortlyafter the destruction of Jerusalem. Table illustrating thatthe New Testament writings were extant when Barnabaswrote, or, at least, that he was conversant with some ofthe writers of the book. The epistle of Clement, when andto whom written. Table exhibiting quotations from theNew Testament in the epistle of Clement. Writings ofHermas; when written. Table exhibiting the quotations ofHermas from the New Testament. Ignatius, when heflourished. Table of his quotations from the New Testament.Polycarp, the friend of the apostle John. Table ofhis quotations from the New Testament. Summing up ofthe testimony of the apostolic fathers.—Ignatius and Polycarpseal their testimony with their blood.—Martyrdom ofPolycarp	13
Section II.—Papias ascribes two gospels to Matthewand Mark. Testimony of Justin, of Irenaenus, of Tertullian,of Clemens Alexandrinus. Table of quotations bythese witnesses. Testimony of Origen: His quotationsfrom the New Testament. Testimony of Eusebius andJerome.—Number and antiquity of the manuscripts of theNew Testament. An argument for the genuineness of itsbooks. Curious discovery which confirms the genuinenessof the New Testament writings.—The council of Laodiceadid not design to settle the Canon	67
CHAPTER II
On the Genuineness of the Books.—Mr. Taylor's argumentsto prove that the writings of the New Testament are spurious.Exposure of his dishonesty in quoting from Dr.Lardner. Mr. P. Smith's refutation of his allegation thatthe Scriptures were altered by the Emperor Anastasius.Exposure of his dishonesty in quoting from Beausobre.Refutation of his allegation that the Scriptures were alteredby Lanfranc. Refutation of his argument drawn from thevarious readings. The passage of the Unitarian NewVersion cited by Mr. Taylor in support of his allegation.Dr. Bentley on the various readings. Gaussen on thevarious readings. Tables illustrative of the various readings.Trouble of Bengel about the integrity of the originaltext. The success of his labors in sacred criticism	84
Section I.—Taylor's dishonesty in referring to theworks of Herbert Marsh, in support of his allegation thatthe manuscript from which the received text was taken wasstolen from the librarian. Explanation of the story of thesale of the manuscript to a skyrocket maker. Taylor's falsehoodin his pretended reference to Bishop Marsh, in supportof his allegation that for the principal passage in the book ofRevelation there was no original Greek. Notice of Mr.Taylor's charge that the tendency of the New Testament isimmoral and wicked. J. J. Rousseau's testimony to themorality of the Gospel. Exposure of Mr. Taylor's dishonestyin quoting from Mosheim in support of his allegationthat ecclesiastical historians admit their inability to showwhen or by whom the New Testament Scriptures werewritten. Refutation of his allegation. The Apocryphalbooks collected and published by Jeremiah Jones. Refutationof Mr. Taylor's assertion what he terms the true andgenuine gospel. Refutation of Mr. Taylor's objection onthe ground of modernisms contained in some passages ofthe New Testament, and the ignorance of the four evangelistsof the geography and statistics of Judea. Thesumming up of the argument on the genuineness of theNew Testament Scriptures	107
CHAPTER III
Credibility of the New Testament Scriptures.—The numberof the witnesses who testify to the facts detailed in theNew Testament. How the credibility of a historical bookis to be ascertained. The rule as applied to Christianwritings. Their genuineness proves their credibility. Thewriters of the New Testament could not have falsified thefacts relative to Jesus Christ. The objection on the groundthat the Jews rejected the claims of Jesus Christ. Its confutation.The conduct of the Jewish nation in rejectingChrist accounted for. The conversion of many of theGentiles proves the credibility of the book. The character,circumstances, and conduct of the men who testify ofJesus prove their credibility. Difficulty to be surmountedby those who maintain that the apostles and evangelistswere impostors. Summing up of the argument on thecredibility of the witnesses	125
Section I.—Collateral testimony of the truthfulness ofthe writers of the New Testament. Testimonies to thetruthfulness of St. Matthew's statement concerning Herodand Archalaus. Testimony to the truthfulness of the statementof Luke concerning Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee, andhis brother Phillip, Tetrarch of Itruria. Testimony to thetruthfulness of the evangelists relative to Herod marryingHerodias. Josephus corroborates Luke's account of thedeath of Herod Agrippa. Testimonies of the truthfulnessof the statements in the Acts concerning Felix. A numberof notices, by profane authors, of Pilate, confirmatory ofthe truthfulness of the evangelists. Testimonies to thetruthfulness of the evangelists in their statements of thetreatment of Jesus Christ upon trial and when crucified.Testimonies confirming statements of the evangelists concerningthe burial of Jesus Christ. Notice taken of Johnthe Baptist by Josephus. What he says concerning JesusChrist. Notices of Jesus Christ from the ancient JewishTalmudical writings. Testimony of the heathen adversaryto the leading facts detailed by the evangelists. Summingup of the argument	140
Section II.—The same ground retraced, and the objectionsof Mr. Taylor considered and answered. Representationof Taylor's third and fourth propositions. Thefalsehood of Mr. Taylor's assertion that no such person asJesus Christ ever existed, proven by the testimony ofTacitus, of Suetonius, of Martial, of Pliny the Younger.Mr. Taylor's assertion that some, many, or all, of theevents related of Jesus Christ by the evangelists had formerlybeen related of the gods and goddesses of Greeceand Rome. Its confutation to be found in any of thePantheons or mythological dictionaries. Exposure of themalignity and falsehood of Mr. Taylor exhibited in hisattempt to identify Jesus Christ with the heathen idolCrishna. Citations from Sir W. Jones concerning Crishna.The testimony of Sir W. Jones impartial. The unreasonablenessand absurdity of Mr. Taylor's conclusions	164
Section III.—The last refuge of the infidel is to maintaineither that Jesus Christ was a mistaken enthusiast ora wicked impostor. Mr. English's argument to prove thatJesus was a mistaken enthusiast. Its confutation	181
Section IV.—Argument by Mr. Olmsted to prove thatJesus Christ was a wicked impostor. Its confutation	190
CHAPTER IV
Objections Stated and Answered.—The objections urged byinfidels of such a nature that, though numerous, to answerone or two of each class is to answer all. Quotation fromGaussen, explanatory of the nature and causes of the supposedcontradictions in the writings of the evangelists. Examplesby Gaussen. Explanation of the seeming contradictionsbetween the genealogies of Matthew and Luke.Answer to the objection, that certain names occur in Luke'slist of the apostles, which do not appear in that of Matthew.Answer to the objection on account of the seeming contradictionin the title which was written over Jesus Christwhen on the cross. Answer to the objection founded onthe seeming contradiction in the different accounts of thehour when Jesus Christ was suspended on the cross. Answerto the objection urged against St. Luke when he says,"It came to pass in those days, that there went out adecree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should betaxed. And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius wasGovernor of Syria." Answer to the objection founded uponJesus cursing the fig-tree. Answer to Taylor's assertion thatRomans 3:7 recommends telling lies for the glory of God.His assertion that Jesus Christ was not crucified. Its confutation.His assertion that "Paul and Barnabas did notpreach the same story." Its falsehood demonstrated. Hisassertion that some preached a Christ who was not crucified.Its falsehood. His assertion that Paul called the otherapostles false apostles and dogs. Vindication of the apostlesfrom this calumny. His assertions that Paul curses the otherapostles and recommends that they should be privatelyassassinated. The falsehood of these accusations. The lastrefuge of Mr. Taylor in asserting that Christianity had itsorigin among the Therapeutae. Other infidels pretend thatthe Essenes were the originators of Christianity. Watson'saccount of the Essenes and Therapeutae	214
CHAPTER V
Divine Authority and Inspiration of the Scriptures.—Whatis to be understood by inspiration? None but anatheist can deny its possibilities. The gift of inspirationproved by the performance of supernatural works, and bythe foretelling of future events with preciseness. If thesesigns accompanied the authors of the dispensations containedin the Old and New Testaments, it must be admittedthat the Bible is a revelation from God. The performanceof miracles by the authors of these dispensations atteststheir divine mission. A miracle defined. Mr. Hume's argumentagainst miracles. Lord Brougham's confutation ofthe argument. Keith's demonstration of its fallacy. Themiracles of Moses, of Jesus Christ and his apostles accompaniedby evidences which cannot be brought to substantiateany pretended fact whatever. Mr. Leslie's argumentin favor of this position. Mr. Olmsted's attempt to destroythe force of Mr. Leslie's argument. Exposure of the misrepresentationsand falsehoods contained in Mr. Olmsted'sargument. Confutation of his argument	232
Section I.—Mr. Leslie's criteria applied to the miraclesrecorded in the Scriptures. Applied to those of Moses; theyall meet in his miracles. Applied to those of Jesus Christand his apostles. Their number, their variety, and thepublic manner in which they were performed, attest theirveracity. Miracles of Christ contrasted with those of impostors.The pretended miracles wrought by Vespasian.The pretended miracles of the Roman Catholics. Many ofthem have been proved to be impostors. The object ofthe miracles of Jesus attests their veracity. The greatmiracle which lies at the foundation of Christianity, theresurrection of Jesus Christ. The miracle examined.Testimony of the evangelists, that Jesus during his life predictedhis death and resurrection. The prediction wellknown to the Jewish rulers. The rulers took every necessaryprecaution to put his pretensions to the test. Thecrucifixion and death of Christ well attested. Precautionsthat the body should not be removed until life was extinct.The precautions of the rulers to prevent the body beingstolen out of the sepulchre. The whole question at issuebetween Jesus and the Jewish rulers, suspended on the nakedfact, whether He did or did not rise again on the thirdday. The Jewish rulers make their preparation on theSabbath to produce the body on the third day. On thethird day the body is missing. Different ways of accountingfor the fact. The disciples alleged that Jesus hadrisen from the dead. Their testimony examined. TheJewish rulers asserted that the disciples stole the body.The allegation examined. Its falsehood demonstrated.Subsequent conduct of the Sanhedrin confirms the testimonyof the apostles and evangelists. The adoption of the Jewishmode of accounting for the fact accompanied with manydifficulties. An acknowledgment of the resurrection ofJesus involves an acknowledgment of His divine mission.Mr. Olmsted's objection on the ground that Jesus did notshow Himself publicly and ascend to heaven in the presenceof the whole nation. Its fallacious nature. The testimonywe have of the resurrection of Jesus Christ much moresatisfactory and convincing than that required by Mr.Olmsted. Insuperable difficulties attending the denial ofthe resurrection of Jesus Christ	279
CHAPTER VI
Divine authority of the Scriptures proved from prophecy andits fulfillment. A prophecy defined. Mr. Watson's argumentin support of the possibility of prophecy. Criteria bywhich true may be distinguished from false prophecies.The prophecies of heathen oracles examined. Proved tohave been impostures. Contrast between the pretended predictionsof the heathen oracles and the prophecies containedin the Scriptures. Mr. Paine's remarks in relation to themanner in which future events would be communicated bya true prophet. Mr. Olmsted's requisition and pledge if itbe met to acknowledge the truth of prophecy. Mr. Olmstedmet upon his own ground. Prophecy relative to the destructionof Tyre. Its fulfillment proved by the infidelVolney, and other competent witnesses. Mr. Olmsted,from his own showing, is bound to believe that Ezekielwas a true prophet of God. Table of quotations from theprophecies of the Old Testament, and from Volney's writings,showing that in spite of himself this infidel proves thetruthfulness of the seers of Israel. Mr. Olmsted's assertionthat the history of Isaiah is made up of scraps, and destituteof order and meaning. The truth of the assertion tested.Prophecy of Isaiah concerning Edom. Volney's testimonyof its fulfillment. Testimony of Mr. Stevens. Prophecyof Jeremiah concerning the capital of Edom. Burchkhardt'stestimony of its fulfillment. Testimony of Captains Irbyand Mangles. Testimony of Mr. Stevens. The infidelhaving been met on his own ground, and the fulfillment ofmany prophecies proved by competent witnesses, it followsthat the seers of Israel were the true prophets of God	302
Section I.—The great theme of the Old Testamentprophets was the coming of the Messiah. The Christianmaintains that these prophecies found an accomplishment inChrist. This denied by the Jew and the infidel. Mr. English'sargument to show that Jesus was not the Messiah.First, on account of His genealogy, and, second, because theprophecies of the Old Testament found no accomplishmentin Him. Mr. English's argument refuted in all its particulars.Jesus proved to be the true Messiah. The Messiahshipof Jesus Christ being proved, it proves that theBible is a revelation from God. Closing address	324
APPENDIX
Starkie's confutation of Hume's argument on evidence	362

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APPENDIX VIII

LINCOLN AND THE CHURCHES

By John G. Nicolay and John Hay

Note.—Some of the important material bearing upon Lincoln's religious convictions which was collected by Nicolay and Hay and published in the Century Magazine, has, through faulty indexing, been almost lost. The words "churches" and "religion" are not in the thick index in the tenth volume of their great work. Finding in the Century Magazine for August, 1889, an important article on this subject, I searched in vain for any way of finding it in the book by means of the index, and two librarians, working in separate libraries, searched for it and reported to me that it was not in the book. I came to the conclusion that in the editing of the work for its publication in book form, the two former secretaries of the President had deemed some of this matter too personal for their title, "Abraham Lincoln: a History." But I have discovered the missing passage in the sixth volume, pages 314-342. Its testimony is in full accord with that subsequently given by Mr. Hay in the address delivered by him from Mr. Lincoln's old pew, which is printed in the volume of John Hay's addresses. The article in the Century is so important that the first and last portions of it will justify reprinting here. The omitted portions relate to the relations of Mr. Lincoln and of the Government to particular churches or denominations.

W. E. B.

In a conflict which was founded upon the quickened moral sense of the people it was not strange that the Government received the most earnest support from the churches. From one end of the loyal States to the other all the religious organizations, with few exceptions, moved by the double forces of patriotism and religion, ranged themselves upon the side of the Government against the rebellion. A large number of pulpits in the North had already taken their places as tribunes for the defense of popular freedom, and it was from them that, at the menace of war, the first cry of danger and of defiance rang out. Those ministers who had for years been denouncing the encroachments of slavery did not wait for any organized action on the part of their colleagues, but proclaimed at once in a thousand varying tones that peace was "a blessing worth fighting for." The more conservative churches were but little in the rear of the more advanced. Those who had counseled moderation and patience with the South on account of the divided responsibility for slavery which rested on both halves of the nation speedily felt the sense of release front the obligations of brotherhood when the South had repudiated and renounced them, and rallied to the support of the insulted flag with an earnestness not less ardent, and more steadily trustworthy, than that of the original antislavery clergy. As the war went on, and as every stage of it gave a clearer presage of the coming destruction of slavery, the deliverances of the churches became every day more and more decided in favor of the national cause and the downfall of human bondage. To detail the thousand ways in which the churches testified their support of the national cause, to give even an abstract of the countless expressions of loyalty which came from the different religious bodies of the country, would occupy many volumes; we can only refer briefly to a few of the more important utterances of some of the great religious societies.

In all the church conventions which met after the President's preliminary proclamation of the 22d of September, 1862, that act of liberation was greeted with the heartiest expressions of approval and support.

As the national authority began to be reëstablished throughout the States in rebellion, not the least embarrassing of the questions which generals in command were called upon to decide was that of the treatment of churches whose pastors were openly or covertly disloyal to the Union. There was no general plan adopted by the Government for such cases; in fact, it was impossible to formulate a policy which should meet so vast a variety of circumstances as presented themselves in the different regions of the South. The Board of Missions of the Methodist Church sent down some of their ablest ministers, with general authority to take charge of abandoned churches, and to establish in them their interrupted worship. The mission boards of other denominations took similar action, and the Secretary of War[75] gave general orders to the officers commanding the different departments to permit ministers of the gospel bearing the commission of these mission boards to exercise the functions of their office and to give them all the aid, countenance, and support which might be practicable. But before and after these orders there was much clashing between the military and the ecclesiastical authorities, which had its rise generally in the individual temperaments of the respective generals and priests. There was an instance in one place where a young officer rose in his pew and requested an Episcopal minister to read the prayer for the President of the United States, which he had omitted. Upon the minister's refusal the soldier advanced to the pulpit and led the preacher, loudly protesting, to the door, and then quietly returning to the altar himself read the prayer—not much, it is to be feared, to the edification of the congregation. General Butler arrested a clergyman in Norfolk, and placed him at hard labor on the public works for disloyalty in belief and action; but the President reversed this sentence and changed it to one of exclusion from the Union lines.[76] The Catholic Bishop of Natchez having refused to read the prescribed form of prayer for the President, and having protested in an able and temperate paper against the orders of the commanding general in this regard, the latter ordered him to be expelled from the Union lines, although the order was almost immediately rescinded. General Rosecrans issued an order[77] in Missouri requiring the members of religious convocations to give satisfactory evidence of their loyalty to the Government of the United States as a condition precedent to their assemblage and protection. In answer to the protestations which naturally resulted from this mandate he replied that it was given at the request of many loyal church members, both lay and clerical; that if he should permit all bodies claiming to be religious to meet without question, a convocation of Price's army, under the garb of religion, might assemble with impunity and plot treason. He claimed that there was no hardship in compelling the members of such assemblages to establish their loyalty by oath and certificate, and insisted that his order, while providing against public danger, really protected the purity and the freedom of religion.

In the course of these controversies between secessionist ministers and commanding generals an incident occurred which deserves a moment's notice, as it led to a clear and vigorous statement from Mr. Lincoln of his attitude in regard to these matters. During the year 1862 a somewhat bitter discussion arose between the Rev. Dr. McPheeters of the Vine Street Church in St. Louis and some of his congregation in regard to his supposed sympathies with the rebellion. Looking back upon the controversy from this distance of time it seems that rather hard measure was dealt to the parson; for although, from all the circumstances of the case, there appears little doubt that his feelings were strongly enlisted in the cause of the rebellion, he behaved with so much discretion that the principal offenses charged against him by his zealous parishioners were that he once baptized a small rebel by the name of Sterling Price, and that he would not declare himself in favor of the Union. The difference in his church grew continually more flagrant and was entertained by interminable letters and statements on both sides, until at last the provost-marshal intervened, ordering the arrest of Dr. McPheeters, excluding him from his pulpit, and taking the control of his church out of the hands of its trustees. This action gave rise to extended comment, not only in Missouri, but throughout the Union. The President, being informed of it, wrote[78] to General Curtis disapproving the act of the provost-marshal, saying, in a terse and vigorous phrase, which immediately obtained wide currency, "The United States Government must not, as by this order, undertake to run the churches. When an individual in a church, or out of it, becomes dangerous to the public interest he must be checked; but let the churches, as such, take care of themselves." But even this peremptory and unmistakable command did not put an end to the discussion. Taking the hands of the Government away from the preacher did not quench the dissensions in the church, nor restore the pastor to the position which he occupied before the war; and almost a year later some of the friends of Dr. McPheeters considered it necessary and proper to ask the intervention of the President to restore to him all his ecclesiastical privileges in addition to the civil rights which they admitted he already enjoyed. This the President, in a letter[79] of equal clearness and vigor, refused to do. "I have never interfered," he said, "nor thought of interfering, as to who shall, or shall not, preach in any church; nor have I knowingly or believingly tolerated anyone else to so interfere by my authority"; but he continues, "If, after all, what is now sought is to have me put Dr. McPheeters back over the heads of a majority of his own congregation, that too will be declined. I will not have control of any church on any side." The case finally ended by the exclusion of Dr. McPheeters from his pulpit by the order of the presbytery having ecclesiastical authority in the case.

In this wise and salutary abstention from any interference with the churches, which was dictated by his own convictions as well as enjoined by the Constitution, the President did not always have the support of his subordinates. He had not only, as we have seen, to administer occasional rebukes to his over-zealous generals, but even in his own Cabinet he was sometimes compelled to overrule a disposition to abuse of authority in things spiritual. Several weeks after he had so clearly expressed himself in the McPheeters case, he found, to his amazement, that the Secretary of War had been giving orders virtually placing the army in certain places at the disposition of a Methodist bishop for the enforcement of his ecclesiastical decrees. He addressed to Mr. Stanton a note of measured censure,[80] which was followed by an order from the War Department explaining and modifying the more objectionable features of the former document. The Secretary explained that his action had no other intention than to furnish "a means of rallying the Methodist people in favor of the Union, in localities where the rebellion had disorganized and scattered them."[81] This explanation was not entirely satisfactory to the President, but he thought best to make no further public reference to the matter. Scarcely was this affair disposed of when a complaint was received from Memphis of some interference by the military with a church edifice there. Mr. Lincoln made upon the paper this peremptory indorsement: "If the military have military need of the church building, let them keep it; otherwise, let them get out of it, and leave it and its owners alone, except for the causes that justify the arrest of anyone."[82] Two months later the President, hearing of further complications in the case, made still another order, which even at the risk of wearying the reader we will give, from his own manuscript, as illustrating not only his conscientious desire that justice should be done, but also the exasperating obstacles he was continually compelled to surmount, in those troubled times, to accomplish, with all the vast powers at his disposition, this reasonable desire.

"I am now told that the military were not in possession of the building; and yet that in pretended execution of the above they, the military, put one set of men out of and another set into the building. This, if true, is most extraordinary. I say again, if there be no military need for the building, leave it alone, neither putting anyone in or out of it, except on finding someone preaching or practicing treason, in which case lay hands upon him, just as if he were doing the same thing in any other building, or in the streets or highways."[83]

He at last made himself understood and his orders respected; yet so widespread was the tendency of generals to meddle with matters beyond their jurisdiction, that it took three years of such vehement injunctions as these to teach them to keep their hands away from the clergy and the churches.

Lincoln had a profound respect for every form of sincere religious belief. He steadily refused to show favor to any particular denomination of Christians; and when General Grant issued an unjust and injurious order against the Jews, expelling them from his department, the President ordered it to be revoked the moment it was brought to his notice.[84]

He was a man of profound and intense religious feeling. We have no purpose of attempting to formulate his creed; we question if he himself ever did so. There have been swift witnesses who, judging from expressions uttered in his callow youth, have called him an atheist, and others who, with the most laudable intentions, have remembered improbable conversations which they bring forward to prove at once his orthodoxy and their own intimacy with him. But leaving aside these apocryphal evidences, we have only to look at his authentic public and private utterances to see how deep and strong in all the latter part of his life was the current of his religious thought and emotion. He continually invited and appreciated, at their highest value, the prayers of good people. The pressure of the tremendous problems by which he was surrounded; the awful moral significance of the conflict in which he was the chief combatant; the overwhelming sense of personal responsibility, which never left him for an hour—all contributed to produce, in a temperament naturally serious and predisposed to a spiritual view of life and conduct, a sense of reverent acceptance of the guidance of a Superior Power. From that morning when, standing amid the falling snowflakes on the railway car at Springfield, he asked the prayers of his neighbors in those touching phrases whose echo rose that night in invocations from thousands of family altars, to that memorable hour when on the steps of the Capitol he humbled himself before his Creator in the sublime words of the second inaugural, there is not an expression known to have come from his lips or his pen but proves that he held himself answerable in every act of his career to a more august tribunal than any on earth. The fact that he was not a communicant of any church, and that he was singularly reserved in regard to his personal religious life, gives only the greater force to these striking proofs of his profound reverence and faith.

In final substantiation of this assertion, we subjoin two papers from the hand of the President, one official and the other private, which bear within themselves the imprint of a sincere devotion and a steadfast reliance upon the power and benignity of an overruling Providence. The first is an order which he issued on the 16th of November, 1864, on the observance of Sunday:

"The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and men in the military and naval service. The importance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiment of Christian people, and a due regard for the Divine will, demand that Sunday labor in the Army and Navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity. The discipline and character of the national forces should not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled, by the profanation of the day or name of the Most High. 'At this time of public distress [adopting the words of Washington in 1776] men may find enough to do in the service of their God and their country without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality.' The first General Order issued by the Father of his Country after the Declaration of Independence indicated the spirit in which our institutions were founded and should ever be defended. 'The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.'"[85]

The date of this remarkable order leaves no possibility for the insinuation that it sprung from any political purpose, or intention. Mr. Lincoln had just been re-elected by an overwhelming majority; his party was everywhere triumphant; his own personal popularity was unbounded; there was no temptation to hypocrisy or deceit. There is no explanation of the order except that it was the offspring of sincere conviction. But if it may be said that this was, after all, an exoteric utterance, springing from those relations of religion and good government which the wisest rulers have always recognized in their intercourse with the people, we will give one other document, of which nothing of the sort can be said. It is a paper which Mr. Lincoln wrote in September, 1862, while his mind was burdened with the weightiest question of his life, the weightiest with which this century has had to grapple. Wearied with all the considerations of law and of expediency with which he had been struggling for two years, he retired within himself and tried to bring some order into his thoughts by rising above the wrangling of men and of parties, and pondering the relations of human government to the Divine. In this frame of mind, absolutely detached from any earthly considerations, he wrote this meditation. It has never been published. It was not written to be seen of men. It was penned in the awful sincerity of a perfectly honest soul trying to bring itself into closer communion with its Maker.

"The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be and one must be wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party; and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say that this is probably true; that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By His mere great power on the minds of the now contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun, he could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds."

The following brief address by Mr. Lincoln appears never to have been published. It was discovered, just as this book was going to press, by Mr. Jesse W. Weik, who hastened to send it to me. It is the shorthand report of a brief address delivered by Mr. Lincoln at a railroad junction near La Fayette, Indiana, a few hours after he had left Springfield on his way to Washington, Saturday, February 11, 1860.

W. H. B.

When I first came to the west some forty-four or forty-five years ago, at sundown you had completed a journey of some thirty miles, which you had commenced at sunrise; and you thought you had done well. Now, only six hours have elapsed since I left my home in Illinois, where I was surrounded by a large concourse of my fellow citizens, most all of whom I could recognize; and I find myself far from home, surrounded by the thousands I now see before me, who are strangers to me. Still we are bound together, I trust, in Christianity, civilization and patriotism, and are attached to our country and our whole country. While some of us may differ in political opinions, still we are all united in one feeling for the Union.

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A CONDENSED BIBLIOGRAPHY

(The bibliographical notes which the author made while this work was in preparation reached a total of several thousand. From these he at first selected about five hundred titles, being practically a catalogue of his own Lincoln library, a list of books about Lincoln which he considered worth buying. But this also appeared much longer than was needed for the purposes of this book, and he has therefore prepared this shorter list of books bearing more directly upon the subject matter of this volume, and for the convenience of such readers as are unfamiliar with the literature of the subject he has added comments upon some of the books or articles.)

I. Lincoln's Own Writings and Speeches

Abraham Lincoln: Complete Works. Edited by John G. Nicolay and John Hay. In Two Volumes. New York: The Century Company, 1894.

There is a larger edition in twelve volumes, with some additions, and there are two other notable collections, both of them good. No one of these, however, is entirely complete; and there are volumes such as "The Uncollected Letters of Lincoln" edited by Gilbert A. Tracy (Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1917) which supplement the "complete" works. Very nearly everything which the reader requires, however, is in the Nicolay and Hay work.

II. Lives of Abraham Lincoln

Autobiography. Facsimile Reproduction of Autobiographical Sketch written by Abraham Lincoln for Jesse W. Fell in 1860. Published by his daughters at Normal, Ill.

The Autobiography of Abraham Lincoln. Sketch furnished by him in 1860 to John Locke Scripps. New York: Francis D. Tandy Company, 1905.

This and the preceding item contain virtually all that Lincoln told the public about himself.

Life of Abraham Lincoln. By John Locke Scripps. 1860. Tribune Tract No. 6. Prepared from information given by Mr. Lincoln and read and approved by him before publication.

"The Wigwam Edition." The Life, Speeches and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln, Together with a Sketch of Hannibal Hamlin. New York: Rudd and Carleton, 1860.

It disputes with Scripps the honor of being the first printed life of Lincoln, and is of great interest as showing how little was known of Lincoln in 1860 apart from the sketch which he had himself prepared.

Life of Abraham Lincoln. By J. Q. Howard, Cincinnati: Anderson, Gates and Wright, 1860. With pictures of the Wigwam on the back and is as rare and desirable as the real "Wigwam Edition."

Life of Abraham Lincoln (of Illinois). With a Condensed View of his Most Important Speeches; also a Sketch of the Life of Hannibal Hamlin (of Maine). Authentic edition. By J. H. Barrett. Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach, Keyes & Co., 1860.

Lives and Speeches of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin. Life of Lincoln by W. D. Howells. Life of Hamlin by John L. Hays. Columbus, Ohio: Follett, Foster and Company, 1860.

The Life and Public Services of Hon. Abraham Lincoln: to which is added a Biographical Sketch of Hon. Hannibal Hamlin by D. W. Bartlett. Authorized edition. New York: Derby & Jackson, 1860.

Life and Public Services of Hon. Abraham Lincoln of Illinois and Hon. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine. Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860.

The above listed campaign biographies, all of them, except the Wigwam Edition, based directly or indirectly upon the information furnished first to Scripps, and then to other biographers, are all of remarkable interest as showing what was then available to make a biography out of, and what various biographers, under stress of the campaign and the enterprise of publishers, were able to make out of it.

A list might be added of the 1864 campaign biographies, but for the present purpose they are unimportant, as also are the first that followed his death.

The Life of Abraham Lincoln. By J. G. Holland. Springfield, Mass., published by Gurdon Bill, 1865. By far the best life of Lincoln published in the first few years after his death, and noted as containing the Bateman interview, which gave rise to the controversy concerning Lincoln's religion.

Life and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln, Together With State Papers. By Henry J. Raymond. To which are added anecdotes and reminiscences of Frank B. Carpenter. New York: Derby & Miller, 1865. At the time of publication this was the best life of Lincoln in its assembling of State Papers and important documents.

The Life of Abraham Lincoln from His Birth to His Inauguration As President. By Ward H. Lamon. Boston: James R. Osgood & Company, 1872. First attempt to give to the world the story of the "real" Lincoln and a conspicuous example of the fate a man may suffer at the hands of his friends. Invaluable in its material, but with shocking bad taste; and said by Herndon to have been written by Chauncey F. Black.

Brings the narrative down to the time of Lincoln's inauguration and was intended to have been followed by a second volume, but was received with such disfavor that the concluding volume was never issued.

Recollections of Abraham Lincoln 1847-1865. By Ward Hill Lamon. Edited by Dorothy Lamon. Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1895. Second Edition of the Same, with Memoir of Ward Hill Lamon by his daughter, Dorothy Lamon Teillard. Washington, D. C. Published by the editor, 1911.

Herndon's Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life. Etiam in minimis major. The History and Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln. By William H. Herndon, for twenty years his friend and law partner; and Jesse William Weik, A.M. Chicago, New York and San Francisco: Belford, Clarke & Co., publishers. London: Henry J. Drane, Lovells Court, Paternoster Road. 3 volumes. 1889. Unexpurgated first edition.

Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life. By William H. Herndon and Jesse W. Weik, with an introduction by Horace White. In two volumes. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1892.

Abraham Lincoln: A History. By John G. Nicolay and John Hay. In ten volumes. New York: The Century Co., 1890. First edition.

A Short Life of Abraham Lincoln. Condensed from Nicolay and Hay's Abraham Lincoln: A History. By John G. Nicolay. New York: The Century Co., 1906.

Personal Traits of Abraham Lincoln. By Helen Nicolay. New York: The Century Company, 1912.

Abraham Lincoln. By John T. Morse, Jr. In two volumes. American Statesman Series. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1893. In many respects the best short life of Lincoln.

The Early Life of Abraham Lincoln. Containing many unpublished documents and unpublished reminiscences of Lincoln's early friends. By Ida M. Tarbell, assisted by J. McCan Davis. New York: S. S. McClure Co., Limited, 1896.

The Life of Abraham Lincoln. Drawn from original sources. By Ida M. Tarbell. Two volumes. New York: The Doubleday & McClure Co., 1900.

Abraham Lincoln. An Essay. By Carl Schurz. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1891.

Lincoln the Leader: and Genius for Expression. By Richard Watson Gilder. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin & Co., 1909.

Abraham Lincoln: The People's Leader in the Struggle for National Existence. By George Haven Putnam, Litt.D. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1909.

Lincoln, Master of Men: A Study in Character. By Alonzo Rothchild. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1906.

Honest Abe: A Study in Integrity. By Alonzo Rothchild. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1917.

Abraham Lincoln. By Rose Strunsky. New York: Macmillan Company, 1914.

Abraham Lincoln. By Noah Brooks. Centennial Edition. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1888.

Abraham Lincoln. By Henry Bryan Binns. London: J. M. Dent & Co., 1907.

Abraham Lincoln. By Lord Charnworth (Godfrey Rathbone Benson). Henry Holt and Company, 1907.

Latest Light on Lincoln, and War Time Memories. By Ervin Chapman, D.D., LL.D. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1917.

The Everyday Life of Abraham Lincoln. By Frances Fisher Browne. Chicago: Browne & Howell Co., 1913. New and thoroughly revised edition.

The True Abraham Lincoln. By William Eleroy Curtis. Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1903.

Abraham Lincoln: The Man of the People. By Norman Hapgood. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1899.

Sketch of the Life of Abraham Lincoln. Compiled in most part from the History of Abraham Lincoln and the overthrow of slavery. By Isaac N. Arnold. New York: John D. Bachelder, 1869.

The Life of Abraham Lincoln. By Isaac N. Arnold. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1901. Twelfth edition, 1916.

Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life. By William O. Stoddard, one of President Lincoln's private secretaries during the War of the Rebellion. Revised edition. New York: Fords, Howard & Hulbert, 1896.

Abraham Lincoln. By Charles Carleton Coffin. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1893.

III. Early Illinois History

A. W. Snyder in Illinois 1817-1842. Virginia, Illinois: E. Needham, 1906.

Illinois in 1818. By Solon Justus Buck. Illinois Centennial Commission, Springfield, 1917.

The Centennial History of Illinois. Vol. II. The Frontier State, 1818-1848. By Theodore Calvin Pease. Published by the Illinois Centennial Commission, 1918, Springfield, Illinois.

The Lincoln Illinois Country. By Daniel Kilham Dodge. The Independent.

Pioneering: An Article on Lincoln and Herndon. By C. H. Dall. Atlantic Monthly, April, 1867.

Lincoln and Salem: Pioneers of Mason and Menard Counties. By T. G. Onstott. Published by the author, Forest City, Illinois, 1902.

Illinois. An address delivered before the faculty and students of the University of Illinois on Illinois Day, 1911, by Clark E. Carr. Illinois University Press, December 6, 1911.

The Illini: A Story of the Prairies. By Clark E. Carr. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co. Issued 1904; eighth edition, 1916.

My Day and Generation. By Clark E. Carr. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1908.

Illinois: Travel and Description, 1765-1865. By Solon Justus Buck. Springfield, Ill. Published by trustees Illinois State Historical Library, 1914.

IV. Lincoln's Youth

Lincoln's Boyhood. By Eleanor Atkinson. The Narrative of an Interview with Dennis Hanks in 1889. American Magazine, February, 1908.

In the Boyhood of Lincoln. By Hezekiah Butterworth. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1892.

The Boy Lincoln. By W. O. Stoddard. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1905.

The Pioneer Boy. By William M. Thayer. Boston: Walker and Wise Company, 1863.

Abraham Lincoln, the Boy and the Man. By James Morgan. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1907.

The Education of Lincoln. By Hamilton W. Mabie. The Outlook, February 20, 1904.

Lincoln's Self-Education. By Hamilton Wright Mabie. The Chautauquan, April, 1900.

Lincoln's Alma Mater. By Eleanor Atkinson. Harper's, May, 1913.

V. Lincoln's Love Affairs and Domestic Relations

Abraham Lincoln; Miss Ann Rutledge; New Salem; Pioneering; The Poem. A lecture delivered in the old Sangamon court house, November, 1866, by William H. Herndon, Springfield, Ill. H. E. Barker, 1916. Edition limited to 150 copies.

Lincoln's Love Story. By Eleanor Atkinson. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1909.

Abraham Lincoln in His Relations to Women. By Julien Gordon. The Cosmopolitan, December, 1894.

Lincoln's Marriage. Newspaper interview with Mrs. Frances Wallace, September 2, 1895. Privately printed by H. E. Barker, Springfield, 1917. Edition limited to 75 copies. Denies that more than one date was ever set for the Lincoln wedding.

The Truth About Mrs. Lincoln. By Howard Glyndon. The Independent, August 10, 1882.

Lincoln's Home Life in Washington. By Leslie J. Perry. Harper's, February, 1897.

VI. Epochs and Aspects of the Life of Lincoln

Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln. By Henry B. Rankin. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1916.

Abraham Lincoln. By H. C. Whitney. The Arena, April, 1898. Contains some valuable reminiscences not in his book.

Life on the Circuit with Lincoln. By Major Henry C. Whitney. Boston: Estes and Lauriat, 1892.

Lincoln and Herndon. By Joseph Fort Newton. Cedar Rapids, Iowa: The Torch Press, 1910.

Lincoln in Myth and in Fact. By Dorothy Lamon Teillard. World's Work, February, 1911.

Six Months in the White House. By Frank B. Carpenter. New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1866. First edition.

The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln: Six Months at the White House. By Frank B. Carpenter. New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1867.

Lincoln and Seward. By Gideon Welles. New York: Sheldon & Co., 1874.

Diary of Gideon Welles. Atlantic Monthly, 1909.

Greeley on Lincoln and Mr. Greeley's Letters. Edited by Joel Benton. New York: The Baker & Taylor Co., 1893.

Lincoln at Gettysburg. By Clark E. Carr. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1906.

Gettysburg and Lincoln. By Henry Sweetser Burrage. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1906.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. By Orton H. Carmichael. New York: The Abingdon Press, 1917.

Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Report of the Commission on the Gettysburg Reunion. Harrisburg, Pa., 1915.

Recollections of Lincoln. By James Grant Wilson, with facsimiles of the Gettysburg and Second Inaugural Addresses. Putnam's Magazine, February, 1909.

The Gettysburg Address with Facsimile of the Manuscript. By John G. Nicolay. Century Magazine, 1894.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. By Prof. Philip M. Bikle and Rev. H. C. Holloway. Lutheran Church Work, February 10, 1916.

Variations in the Reports of the Gettysburg Address. By W. H. Lambert, The Century Magazine, February, 1894.

Gettysburg. By Elsie Singmaster. Boston: Houghton & Mifflin Co., 1913.

Lincoln at Gettysburg. Address delivered before the Illinois State Historical Society at Springfield, Ill., January 25, 1906. By Clark E. Carr.

Lincoln's Masterpiece. By Isaac Markens. Published by the author, 274 W. 140th Street, New York.

The Perfect Tribute. By Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1907.

Revised Report of the Select Committee on the Soldiers' National Cemetery. Together with the Accompanying Documents as Reported to the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: Hornsby, Singerly & Myers, State Printers, 1865.

VII. The Death of Lincoln

The Death of Lincoln. By Clara E. Laughlin. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1909.

The Assassination of Lincoln. By David Miller Dewitt. New York: The Century Co., 1909.

The Assassination of Lincoln: A History of the Great Conspiracy. By T. M. Harris, a member of the commission that tried the conspirators. Boston: American Citizen Co., 1892.

Assassination of Lincoln. By Osborn H. Oldroyd. Washington D. C., 1901.

Through Five Administrations. By William H. Crook. Lincoln's Bodyguard. New York: Harper & Brother, 1910.

Lincoln's Last Day. By William H. Crook. Harper's, September, 1907.

VIII. Anthologies

The Lincoln Memorial: Album-Immortelles. Collected and edited by Osborn H. Oldroyd. New York: G. W. Carleton & Co., 1882.

Poetical Tributes to the Memory of Abraham Lincoln. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1865.

The Poets' Lincoln: Tributes in Verse to the Martyred President. Selected by Osborn H. Oldroyd. Washington, D. C.: Published by the editor at "The House Where Lincoln Died," 1915.

The Praise of Lincoln: An Anthology. Collected and arranged by A. Dallas Williams. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1911.

The Book of Lincoln. Compiled by Mary Wright Davis. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1919.

IX. Lincoln's Literary Style

Abraham Lincoln As a Man of Letters. By Luther Emerson Robinson, M.A. Chicago: The Reilly & Britton Co., 1918.

Lincoln's Literary Experiments. By John G. Nicolay. With a lecture and verses hitherto unpublished. Century Magazine, April, 1894.

The Evolution of Lincoln's Literary Style. By Prof. Daniel Kilham Dodge. Champaign and Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1900.

X. The Religion of Abraham Lincoln

Religious Views of Abraham Lincoln. Compiled and published by Orrin Henry Pennell. The R. M. Scranton Co., Alliance, Ohio, 1899.

Brief Analysis of Lincoln's Character. By W. H. Herndon. A letter to J. E. Remsburg, September 10, 1887. Privately printed by H. E. Barker, Springfield, Ill. Edition limited to 50 copies.

A Card and a Correction. A Broadside on Lincoln's religion. By W. H. Herndon. Privately printed by H. E. Barker, Springfield, Ill. Edition limited to 75 copies.

Abraham Lincoln the Christian. By William J. Johnson. New York and Cincinnati: The Abingdon Press, 1913.

The Later Life and Religious Sentiments of Abraham Lincoln. By Rev. James A. Reed. Scribner's Monthly, 1873, pp. 333-344.

Lincoln's Religious Belief. By B. F. Irwin. Article in the Illinois State Journal of May 16, 1874. Manuscript copy.

More Testimony. Letter from Hon. William Reid, U. S. Consul at Dundee, Scotland. Article in Portland Oregonian, March 4, 1874. Copied in Illinois State Journal. Manuscript copy.

Abraham Lincoln's Religion. By Madison C. Peters. Boston: Richard G. Badger, The Gorham Press, 1909.

Lincoln and the Church. Article by John G. Nicolay and John Hay in Century, August, 1889.

The Record of a Quaker Conscience. By Cyrus Pringle. New York: Macmillan Company, 1918 (Lincoln and the Quakers).

The Conversion of Lincoln. By Rev. Edward L. Watson, New York, Christian Advocate, November 11, 1909.

The Religious Beliefs of Abraham Lincoln. By R. C. Roper. Article in The Open Court.

Lincoln's Religious Faith and Principles. By Thomas D. Logan, D.D. The Interior, February 11, 1909.

Abraham Lincoln. Address delivered in Springfield, February 12, 1909, and reported in, the Springfield Evening Record of that date by Rev. Thomas D. Logan, D.D.

Lincoln Defamers Refuted. By Henry B. Rankin. Broadside issued for the Lincoln Day celebration at Old Salem, February 12, 1919, with author's corrections and accompanying autograph letters.

Abraham Lincoln's Cardinal Traits: A Study in Ethics, with an Epilogue Addressed to Theologians. By C. S. Beardslee. Boston: Richard G. Badger, The Gorham Press, 1914.

Abraham Lincoln: His Religion. By Robert N. Reeves. Chicago: N. D.

The Religion of Abraham Lincoln. By George A. Thayer. Cincinnati: 1909.

Abraham Lincoln the Preacher's Teacher. By William J. Hutchins. Lecture in volume on "The Preacher's Ideals and Inspirations." New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1917.

Essay on Lincoln: Was He An Inspired Prophet? By Milton R. Scott. Published by the author, Newark, Ohio, 1906.

Abraham Lincoln. By Charles Henry Fowler, late bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Leading oration in volume of "Patriotic Orations." New York: Eaton & Mains, 1910.

Lincoln's Use of the Bible. By S. Trevena Jackson. New York: The Abingdon Press, 1909.

The Agnosticism of Abraham Lincoln. By Lyman Abbott. The Outlook, November 17, 1906.

Lincoln's Faith. By John Hay. Address given from President Lincoln's pew in the New York Avenue Church, November 16, 1902. In John Hay's addresses.

The Religious Opinions and Life of Abraham Lincoln. By the Rev. William H. Bates, D.D., Washington, D. C., 1914.

Abraham Lincoln: A Lecture. By Robert G. Ingersoll. New York: C. P. Farrell, 1895.

The Religion of Abraham Lincoln. Correspondence between General Charles H. T. Collis and Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll. With Appendix, containing interesting anecdotes by Major-General Daniel E. Sickles and Hon. Oliver S. Munsell. New York: G. H. Dillingham Company, 1890.

Fifty Years in the Church of Rome. By Father Chiniquy. 42nd edition. Chicago: The Craig Press, 1892. Contains interesting account of Lincoln's service as Father Chiniquy's attorney and of interviews at the White House.

Abraham Lincoln: Was He a Christian? By James E. Remsburg. Extended chapter in "Six Historical Americans." New York: The Truth Seeker Co. Extended argument to prove that Lincoln was and continued to be an infidel.

Was Abraham Lincoln a Spiritualist? By Mrs. Nettie Colburn Maynard. Philadelphia: Rufus C. Hartranft, 1891. Contains extraordinary claims of revelations made to Lincoln while in the White House by a trance medium.

Sir Oliver Lodge Is Right: Spirit Communication a Fact. By Grace Garrett Durand. Privately printed, Lake Forest, Ill., 1917. Contains alleged revelations from Abraham Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln a Practical Mystic. By Frances Grierson. New York: The John Lane Co., 1918.

The Abraham Lincoln Myth. By Bocardo Bramantip (Oliver Prince Buel). New York: The Mascot Publishing Co., 1894. A reprint from The Catholic World of November and December, 1893, intended as a satire upon the Higher Criticism. Apparently suggested by the famous essay "Historical Doubts Concerning the Existence of Napoleon Bonaparte."

The Mythifying Theory; or, Abraham Lincoln a Myth. By D. B. Turney. Metropolis, Ill. B. O. Jones, Book and Job Printer, 1872. Photostat from copy in Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.

XI. Lincoln and Temperance.

Lincoln's First Address Delivered in Springfield, February 22, 1842. The Union Signal.

A Discourse on the Bottle: Its Evils and Its Remedy. By Rev. James Smith. Sermon delivered in the First Presbyterian Church, Springfield, January 23, 1853. Reprinted 1892. A surprisingly straightforward plea for legislative prohibition, printed at the request of a committee who heard it, among them being Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln a Temperance Man. By Howard H. Russell. The Interior, February 11, 1909.

The Lincoln Legion. By Howard H. Russell, Westerville, Ohio, 1913.

Lincoln and Temperance. By Rev. Thomas D. Logan. The Advance, February 11, 1909.

XII. Lincoln and Slavery

History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America. By Henry Wilson, 3 vols. Third edition. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co., 1875.

Lincoln and Slavery. By Albert E. Pillsbury. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.

Abraham Lincoln: The Evolution of His Emancipation Policy. By Paul Selby. Chicago Historical Society, 1909.

Anti-Slavery History: State and Nation. By Austin Willey. Portland, Maine: Hoyt, Fogg & Donham, 1886.

The Dred Scott Decision. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1857.

The Martyrdom of Elijah P. Lovejoy. By H. Tanner. Chicago: Fergus Printing Co., 1881.

Dedication of Lovejoy Monument, November 8, 1897. Alton, Ill.: Charles Holden, 1897.

The Underground Railroad. By William M. Cockrum. Oakland City, Ind.: J. W. Cockrum Printing Co., 1915.

Lincoln, Grant, and the Freedmen. By John Eaton. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1907.

The Negro a Beast. By Charles Carroll. American Book and Bible House, St. Louis, 1900.

The Journal of Negro History. Washington, D. C., 4 volumes to date.

The History of Abraham Lincoln and the Overthrow of Slavery. By Isaac N. Arnold. Chicago: Clarke & Co., 1866.

XIII. Attacks on the Character of Lincoln

The Real Lincoln. From the testimony of his contemporaries. By Charles L. C. Minor, M.A., LL.D. Second edition, revised and enlarged. Richmond, Va.: Everett Waddey Co., 1904. A vicious assault on the integrity of Lincoln.

Facts and Falsehoods Concerning the War on the South, 1861-1865. By George Edmonds [Mrs. Elizabeth (Avery) Merriwether]. Memphis, Tenn. For sale by A. R. Taylor & Co., 1904. Displays the most diligent effort in the compilation of items derogatory to Lincoln and the North, but is manifestly dependent upon second authorities and in some cases shows marked ignorance of the original sources cited. Quotes freely from an imaginary edition of Herndon, alleged to have been published in 1866 and suppressed.

Abraham Lincoln: An Address Delivered Before R. E. Lee Camp, No. 1, Confederate Veterans at Richmond, Virginia, October 29, 1909. By Hon. Geo. L. Christian. Second edition. Richmond: L. H. Jenkins, Publisher. Based upon the historical data in Minor's Real Lincoln and Edmonds' Facts and Falsehoods.

Crimes of the Civil War and Curse of the Funding System. By Henry Clay Dean. Baltimore: J. Wesley Smith & Brother, 1869. Excessively scarce and most pronounced of its kind of literature. Denounces Lincoln as a tyrant, murderer, and inhuman monster and lauds the act of assassination by John Wilkes Booth.

Confederate Echoes. By A. T. Goodloe. Publishing House M. E. Church, South, Nashville, Tenn., 1907.

Lincoln the Rebel Candidate. Democratic Campaign Pamphlet of 1864. Photostat from original in New York Public Library.

XIV. Lectures, Addresses, and Reminiscences

Abraham Lincoln. An address by Hon. Newton Bateman, LL.D. Galesburg, Ill.: The Cadmus Club, 1909.

Abraham Lincoln: An Oration. Delivered on Washington's Birthday, 1891, by William Goodell Frost. Oberlin News, 1891.

Abraham Lincoln: An Oration. By John E. Burton. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, 1903.

Abraham Lincoln: An Address. By Frederick A. Noble. Chicago, February 12, 1901.

Abraham Lincoln: An Essay. By Joseph Fort Newton. The Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1910.

The Mystery of Lincoln. By Robert E. Knowles. The Independent.

The Making of Lincoln. Editorial in The Outlook, February 13, 1909.

Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln. By Distinguished Men of His Time. Collected and edited by Allen Thorndike Rice. New York: The North American Review, 1888. Separate articles by thirty-three distinguished contemporaries of Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln: Tributes from His Associates. Edited by William Hayes Ward. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1895. Forty-five chapters by soldiers, statesmen, and citizens who had known Lincoln.

Sermons Preached in Boston on the Death of Abraham Lincoln, Together with the Funeral Service in the East Room of the Executive Mansion in Washington. Boston: J. E. Tilton & Co., 1865.

Our Martyred President: Lincoln Memorial Addresses. The Abingdon Press, 1915. A reprint of the original edition containing sermons by New York ministers, together with the orations of George Bancroft, Bishop Simpson, and Richard S. Storrs.

Memorial Addresses on the Life and Character of Abraham Lincoln in the House of Representatives, February 12, 1866. By George Bancroft. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1866.

Abraham Lincoln, by Some Men Who Knew Him. Edited by Isaac N. Phillips, Bloomington, Ill., Pantagraph Co., 1910.

Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln; and a Visit to California. By Joshua Fry Speed, Louisville, 1884.

Eulogy of Abraham Lincoln. By Henry Champion Deming. Before the General Assembly of Connecticut, Hartford, June 8, 1865. Hartford: A. N. Clark & Co., State printers, 1865.

Abraham Lincoln. An address before the Lincoln League Club of Chicago, in the Auditorium, February 12, 1895. By Henry Watterson.

Lincoln. By Isaac Newton Phillips. Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of Illinois. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1910.

The Message of the President to Congress. First message of Andrew Johnson following the assassination of Lincoln, Washington, 1865.

The Promises of the Declaration of Independence. Eulogy on Abraham Lincoln. By Charles Sumner. Boston: J. E. Farwell & Co., 1865.

Abraham Lincoln. By Joseph H. Choate. New York: T. Y. Crowell & Co., 1901.

Abraham Lincoln Today. By William Charles Langdon, Edmund J. James, and Captain Fernand Baldensperger. University of Illinois Press, 1918.

Abraham Lincoln and Boston Corbett. With personal recollections of each. John Wilkes Booth and Jefferson Davis. A true story of their capture. By Berkeley Byron Johnson. Waltham, Mass.: Privately printed, 1914.

Abraham Lincoln. By Phillips Brooks. A sermon preached in Philadelphia, April 23, 1865.

Abraham Lincoln. By S. Parkes Cadman. Address before the New York Republican Club.

Some Impressions of Lincoln. By E. S. Nadal. Scribner's, 1906.

Life and Principles of Abraham Lincoln. By Hon. Schuyler Colfax. Philadelphia, 1865.

The Voice of the Rod. Funeral sermon by the Rev. P. D. Gurley, D.D. Washington, 1865.

Abraham Lincoln and the London Punch. By William S. Walsh. New York: Moffat, Yard & Co., 1909.

Lincoln and Men of Wartime. By A. K. McClure. Philadelphia: The Times Publishing Co., 1892.

Recollections of President Lincoln and His Administration. By L. E. Chittenden. New York: Harper & Brother, 1891.

Personal Reminiscences Including Lincoln and Others. By L. E. Chittenden. New York: Richmond, Croscup & Co., 1893.

Personal Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln. By Thomas Lowry. Privately printed, Minneapolis, 1910.

The Footsteps of Lincoln. By J. T. Hobson. Dayton, Ohio: The Otterbein Press, 1909.

The Master and His Servant. A comparison of the incidents of Lincoln's life with that of Jesus. By J. T. Hobson. United Brethren Publishing House, Dayton, Ohio, 1913.

The Picture and the Men. Compiled by Fred B. Perkins. A. J. Johnson, New York, 1867.

Inside the White House in War Times. By William O. Stoddard. New York: Charles L. Webster & Co., 1890.

Behind the Scenes. By Elizabeth Keckley. New York: G. W. Carleton & Co., 1868.

Behind the Seams. By a Nigger Woman Who Took in Work for Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Davis. New York: The National News Company, 1868. A satire on Mrs. Keckley's Behind the Scenes. Photostat of copy in Library of Congress.

XV. Books Which Influenced Lincoln

The Holy Bible.

The Elementary Spelling Book. By Noah Webster. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

The Life of George Washington with Curious Anecdotes. By W. R. Weems. Philadelphia: Joseph Allen, 1844.

Pilgrim's Progress. By John Bunyan. London: Ward, Lock & Co. Reprint with curious old cuts.

Æsop's Fables. Old edition with curious cuts. Title page missing.

The English Reader. By Lindley Murray. New York: Collins & Co., 1832.

The Christian's Defence. Containing a fair statement and impartial examination of the leading objections, urged by infidels against the antiquity, genuineness, credibility, and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures; enriched with copious extracts from learned authors. Two volumes in one. Volume I, The Old Testament, pp. 312; Volume II, The New Testament, pp. 364. Cincinnati: J. A. James, 1843.

Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation. London: George Rutledge & Sons, 1890. American agents, E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. Reprint of the first edition, issued in 1844.

Second American edition of the same, with an introduction by Rev. George B. Cheever, D.D. New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1845.

Third edition of the same, with an Appendix, containing an extended review from the North British Review of July, 1845. New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1845.

Explanations. A sequel to Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation. By the author of that work. New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1846. From and after the sixth edition the explanations were added as a supplement to regular editions of Vestiges. The author's name, Robert Chambers, was not given in any edition of the Vestiges until the twelfth, which appeared after his death.

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